jmc's classics
March 21 was the anniversary of the premier of Schubert's Ninth Symphony in C which is also referred to as "Great" to distinguish it form the Sixth which is also in the key of C. This work is sometimes called the "Little" Symphony. The premier took place in 1838. Ten years after the composer's death. The Ninth is one of my favorite works by Schubert. The catalogue number is D944. Schubert's writings are given the "D" in the catalogue of his works. His most famous is his Eighth which was not completed and known as the "Unfinished" Symphony. Both Bruckner and Mahler left symphonies that were unfinished at the time of their deaths.
In 1838, Robert Schumann had permission from Franz Schubert's brother Ferdinand to look through Franz's manuscripts. He found the manuscript for the Ninth. He showed it to fellow composer Felix Mendelssohn who liked it. Both men championed Schubert's music. Because of the numbering it was called his seventh symphony. It was sometimes called his eighth symphony. The unfinished symphony is Schubert's Eighth Symphony. There is no symphony number seven. There may have been manuscripts for a seventh but never found. like a Sibelius Eight Symphony. As mentioned both Schumann and Mendelssohn championed this work. It had a better fate than the Eighth in that there was an attempt to play the Ninth in Schubert's lifetime. When the members of the Vienna Philharmonic first read the score they thought that the music was funny. Parts of Donizetti's opera Lucia Di Lammermoor were played between movements. Both Donizetti and Schubert were born in 1797. Donizetti lived another 20 years. He wrote mostly operas. Schubert and Schumann can be confused. Also, the American Composer William Schuman (1910-1992). so there is a lot of confusion among the three of them. The Ninth is in the standard four movements: Andante, Andante con moto, Scherzo: Allegro and Allegro vivace. It lasts 45 minutes to an hour. I have heard a lot of excellent recordings of this work. The CD that I have is of Arturo Toscanini conducting the NBC Symphony Orchestra on the RCA label. I like this CD but it is an older CD from 1947. It is coupled with Schubert's Fifth Symphony (D485). I like both works. THey are among my favorites.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Archives
April 2024
Categories |