In the half century after Franz Schubert’s death, his reputation rested almost entirely on his wonderful Lieder, while the rest of his music was mostly neglected. None of his orchestral music was published during his lifetime, and many of the major works did not resurface from private hands for decades after his death. The first six symphonies were not published until 1884-85 in the Gesamtausgabe, the complete edition of his works. The manuscript of Symphony No. 8, the“Unfinished,” resurfaced only in 1865 when its owner, Schubert’s friend Anselm Hüttenbrenner, a minor composer, used it as bait to get one of his own compositions performed. The Ninth, the “Great” C major, was first performed–albeit severely cut–in 1839 at the instigation of Robert Schumann and under the direction of Felix Mendelssohn.

The C major Symphony is actually Schubert’s seventh and final completed symphony (For a long time, it was believed that there was a seventh “lost” symphony.) Besides the fragment that is the "Unfinished", Schubert made at least four other aborted attempts at symphonic writing.

He composed the Symphony in 1825-26, during a period of relatively good health and rising hopes, when the syphilis, from which he had been suffering since 1822, was quiescent. For years there was confusion about the date because Schubert wrote “March 1828” on the manuscript–perhaps to fool a publisher, unsuccessfully, that the work was new. Analysis of the paper and ink and deciphering of the correspondence relating to the events described below clearly shows the date of composition was two years earlier.

In October 1826 Schubert presented the score to the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde, Austria’s Music Society. In the summer of 1827, its orchestra played through the work in Schubert’s presence but found it too difficult and too long for a public performance. The Finale was performed in Vienna in 1836. Schumann retrieved the manuscript from Schubert’s brother Ferdinand–commenting on its “Heavenly length”–setting the stage for the 1839 severely cut premiere.

Three major symphonic works composed within a six-year period served as a transition between the Classical style and full-blown Romanticism: Beethoven’s Ninth (1824), Schubert’s C major (1826) and Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique (1830). Of the three, Schubert’s is the most conservative when compared to Beethoven’s addition of a chorale finale integrated into the overall scheme of the symphony, and Berlioz’s greatly expanded orchestral forces and literary programs. Yet, Schubert’s is by no means a throwback. Taking and developing ideas particularly Beethoven, whom he idolized, Schubert imbued each movement of the Symphony with creative, even innovative, takes on the Classical symphonic form.

The Symphony is characterized throughout by a steadiness of pacing and tempo. Although it opens with a substantial introduction, the composer did not indicate a tempo increase at the beginning for the main part of the movement that begins the formal sonata structure. Many conductors speed up this section, following the convention of slow introductions, but there is a structural reason for not picking up the tempo: in the development section, Schubert re-introduces an important motive from the introduction, working it into the fabric of the development of the second theme. And, although he was not the first composer to do so, he concludes the movement with a twofold restatement of the complete introduction theme.

In most symphonies and concertos, the so-called slow movement is designed to create a contrast in tempo and mood with the other, more animated movements. In this Symphony, however, the second movement march proceeds at a relatively speedy Andante con moto. It is also a complex hybrid of the customary ternary (ABA) form, rondo and sonata forms. While conductors frequently take cuts in this Symphony, the restatements of the themes in this movement represent new developments of the structural and harmonic ideas, rather than mere padding.

In the broadest sense, the Scherzo adheres to the conventional form of two repeated strains, followed by a trio in the same form. But Schubert expands this simplest of musical structures into the most complex movement in the entire Symphony. The Scherzo section is a hybrid sonata-allegro form, in which the main theme, pounded out in the unison strings, is followed by a contrasting middle section, a lilting waltz. There follows a true development and recapitulation before beginning the Trio.

The Trio, a waltz for the upper winds, turns suddenly melancholy with the composer’s penchant for drifting between the major and minor modes. The return to the Scherzo also includes a coda based on the second Scherzo theme with continual modulations, as if it were another development section.

The Finale, with its relentless driving perpetual motion of triplets in the upper strings, is reminiscent of the final movement of Beethoven’s Seventh. Again, it is in sonata-allegro form. Beginning with the opening fanfare, each theme is independently explored within the exposition. The development opens with a musical allusion to, and further expansion of, the “Ode to Joy.” It is Schubert’s ode to Beethoven.

Program notes by:
Joseph & Elizabeth Kahn
Wordpros@mindspring.com
www.wordprosmusic.com