jmc's classics
TherAs I said earlier, Beethoven is remembered for his 5th and 9th Symphonies-2 of the most famous compositions along with Rossini's William Tell, Handle's Messiah and several other pieces. Schubert wrote a 5th and 9th Symphony. His best known is his 8th "Unfinished". He completed 2 movements and a few bars of a 3rd. His main known work is his rendition of Ave Maria. Ave Maria is a Catholic prayer the Hail Mary. It was set to music by many other composers. Max Bruch, Luigi Bocherichini, Francis Poulenc and Giuseppi Verdi among others. Max Bruch a German was not even Catholic. He was Lutheran. Bruch is one of the lesser known composers. He is mainly remembered for his Violin concerto #1 and Scottish Fantasy for Violin and orchestra. His name sounds to much like Brahms, Bruckner Bach and Brittan. Bruckner and Mahler also wrote unfinished symphonies. Their deaths caused them to remain unfinished. Not Schubert's however. Schubert just put the score aside to work on other pieces. I like Bruckner's music. His symphonies are long and can be considered boring. A few years a ago a lot of the audience was walking out of a performance of one of his symphonies (I forget which one). His music for some bay be boring and difficult to understand. I like his 3rd Symphony and Intermezzo for String quintet. He wrote the intermezzo, one each string quintet and quartet plus a rondo for string quartet. He also wrote a lot of religious music. He like Schubert was a devout catholic and lived in Vienna. Schubert's music is listed as "D" instead of Opus. D is German for Deutsch. He wrote many works Songs or lieder. He wrote chamber music, operas and several settings for the Catholic Mass. His most famous chamber music is his string Quintet (D956) Piano Quintet "Trout"(D667) and String Quarter 'Death and the Maiden" (D810). Today Schubert's operas are not as popular. He only lived 31 years (1797-1828) He was born the same year as Geatano Donizetti who out lived him by almost 20 years. He was the son of a teacher and he himself also taught. My 2 favorite symphonies of his are the 9th in C (D944) the Great and the 5thin B (D485). the 9th is Called Great to distinguish it from his 6th also in C (D589) or the Little Symphony. The 9th is the longest lasting 45 minutes to an hour. The 5th is the shortest lasting 20-25 minutes. The 5th is charming and almost Motzartian in essence. The second movement (Andante con Moto) is very charming. The second movement along with the first movement (Modereto) of Dvorak's String Serenade ( Opus 22) are very relaxing and I especially enjoy these movements. Schubert's early symphonies are not as popular as the 5th, 8th and 9th. but the do along with the 6th have a certain charm to them. The 4th is labeled "Tragic". Gustav Mahler's 6th Symphony is also labeled "Tragic" and he also wrote an unfinished 10th symphony. "Mahler (1860-1911) used voice for his 2-4 and 8th symphonies. I am not that much in to his music. Some of it sounds too depressing. Much of the 5th symphony has influence of Mozart and sounds like Mozart might have wrote it. There are no trumpets or percussion in this symphony. It dates from 1816 when Schubert was only 19. There was no 7th Symphony from Schubert. Only a few sketches. There may have also been a short sketch of a 10th by Schubert. His 6th Symphony (D589) is from 1818 it has trumpets but no trombones. It is not as mature as the the 9th but it is just as good. It has many of the themes of Schubert's overtures and may be Italian in spirit. he wrote several overtures. His 3rd and 4th Symphonies are also nice and should be listened to. I like the second movement "Allegretto" form his 3rd symphony. The 3rd lasts around 22 minutes and the 4th lasts about a half hour. Both would be good concert pieces at a symphony orchestra concert with one ore two longer works. The 9th Symphony is said to have themes and connections to Beethoven's 9th symphony. Beethoven died about a year before Schubert.
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