Franz Schubert was born in Vienna, Austria, on January 31, 1797, and died there on November 19, 1828. The first performance of the Fifth Symphony took place in Vienna in the autumn of 1816. The Symphony No. 5 is scored for flute, two oboes, two bassoons, two horns, and strings. Approximate performance time is twenty-seven minutes.
Franz Schubert completed his C-Minor Fourth Symphony in April of 1816. Many commentators have opined that this work, called the “Tragic” by the composer, reflects the powerful influence of Beethoven, particularly the immortal Fifth Symphony and Overture to Coriolanus. To the extent that assessment is accurate (and it is subject to debate), it is clear that Schubert soon looked elsewhere for his musical inspiration. In June of 1816, after a performance of one of Mozart’s String Quintets, perhaps K. 516 in G minor (1787), Schubert wrote in his diary:
A light, bright, fine day this will remain throughout my whole life. As from afar the magic notes of Mozart’s music still gently haunt me...Thus does our soul retain these fair impressions, which no time, no circumstances can efface, and they lighten our existence. They show us in the darkness of this life a bright, clear, lovely distance, for which we can hope with confidence. O Mozart, immortal Mozart, how many, oh how endlessly many such comforting perceptions of a brighter and better life hast thou brought to our souls!
A few days later, Schubert characterized the music of Beethoven as:
that eccentricity which joins and confuses the tragic with the comic, the agreeable with the repulsive, heroism with howlings and the holiest with the harlequinades, without distinction, so as to goad people to madness instead of dissolving in love, to incite them to laughter instead of lifting them to God.
Schubert was not yet twenty when he wrote these words. In time, he would regain an appreciation of Beethoven’s unique greatness. Still, it was in the frame of mind related in the quoted diary excerpts that Schubert composed his Symphony No. 5, sometimes called “the Symphony without trumpets and drums.” Schubert began composition in September of 1816, and completed the Symphony on October 3.
None of Schubert’s Symphonies received public performances during the composer’s lifetime. The premiere of the Fifth Symphony took place in Vienna in October of 1816, at the home of Otto Hatwig on the Schottenhof. The first public performance took place at the Vienna Theater in der Josefstadt on October 17, 1841, conducted by Michael Leitermayer.
As commentators have noted the influence of Beethoven in Schubert’s “Tragic” Symphony, so they find Mozart in the B-flat Major. The orchestration, eschewing trumpets, drums, and clarinets, matches the original scoring of Mozart’s Symphony No. 40 in G minor, K. 550 (1788). The keys for the second and third movements of Schubert’s B-flat (the relative major key of G minor) Symphony are the same as their counterparts in Mozart’s 40th. But as with the expression of any genius, young or old, the Fifth Symphony says more about Schubert than Mozart, Beethoven, or any other composer. This genial work exhibits the rich fount of melodic genius that served Franz Schubert so well, particularly in song composition, a realm in which he is still acknowledged the supreme master.
The Fifth Symphony is in the traditional four movements. The first (Allegro), in sonata form (exposition, development, and recapitulation of central thematic material) is based upon two principal melodies, both charming and lyrical. The elegant slow-tempo second movement (Andante con moto) is based upon two alternating episodes. The brief coda combines the episodes, prior to the movement’s ethereal close. The third-movement Minuet (Menuetto. Allegro molto) features a rather angular ascending and descending melody, juxtaposing the minor and Major. The charming central Trio is in the spirit of a leisurely country dance. The finale (Allegro vivace), like the opening movement, is in sonata form, and based upon a pair of themes. The music dashes to a sprightly conclusion.
Program notes by Ken Meltzer