Franz Schubert’s Symphony No. 8 in B Minor, D. 759, Unfinished, premiered in 1865 in Vienna, nearly four decades after the composer’s death. The mystery of why it remained unfinished, and the journey it took to its premiere is the topic of much speculation and few answers. Schubert began his work on the symphony in 1818 at the age of 22 before abandoning it, half finished, in 1822. His first six symphonies having been composed in the Classical style of Mozart and Haydn, he had begun attempts at a more Romantic style of symphony, more in the vein of Beethoven.

Although Schubert had left copious sketches to compositions incomplete throughout his life, the Unfinished Symphony was unique in that the first two movements were complete and fully orchestrated, and a third movement was left fully sketched with about 130 measures orchestrated as well. While most examples of composers leaving works in this state were due to death, Schubert lived another six years. Some scholars speculate that he may have composed himself into a corner having completed two exceptional movements in triple meter, followed by a triple meter a Scherzo, making the symphony exceedingly triple meter heavy. Others believe that he might have been intimidated by the symphonies of Beethoven. Whatever the reason, it was not his only abandoned attempt. Remnants of several symphonies, some more complete than others, have been discovered. Of his later attempts, only his Symphony No. 9 in C Major, D. 944, Great, was completed before his death in 1828.

As to what happened with the incomplete manuscript of his Unfinished Symphony, Schubert had gifted it to Anselm Huettenbrenner, a member of the Graz Musical Society, after they had awarded him an honorary diploma in 1823. Huettenbrenner kept the manuscript in a drawer in his study until 1865, when he lent it to conductor Johann von Herbeck. Herbeck, recognizing the brilliance of the music, conducted its premiere in Vienna in December of that year. From the time of its premiere, Schubert’s Unfinished Symphony has been regarded among Schubert’s greatest orchestral endeavors, as well as one of the earliest examples, by date of composition, of a truly Romantic symphony.

Notes by Robert Fann