Franz Schubert: Symphony No. 4 in C minor "Tragische" D. 417 (1816)

00:00 Adagio molto - Allegro vivace
08:38 Andante con moto
17:17 Menuetto & Trio: allegro vivace
21:06 Allegro

Franz Schubert (1797-1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short lifetime, Schubert left behind a vast oeuvre, including more than 600 secular vocal works (mainly lieder), seven complete symphonies, sacred music, operas, incidental music and a large body of piano and chamber music. His major works include the Piano Quintet in A major, D. 667 (Trout Quintet), the Symphony No. 8 in B minor, D. 759 (Unfinished Symphony), the ”Great” Symphony No. 9 in C major, D. 944, the three last piano sonatas (D. 958–960), the opera Fierrabras (D. 796), the incidental music to the play Rosamunde (D. 797), and the song cycles Die schöne Müllerin (D. 795) and Winterreise (D. 911).Schubert added the title Tragic to his autograph manuscript some time after the work was completed. It is not known why. It can be noted, however, that the symphony is one of only two he wrote (the Unfinished Symphony is the other) in a minor key. The scoring is for 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets in B♭, 2 bassoons, 4 horns in A♭, C and E♭, 2 trumpets in C and E♭, timpani and strings. There are four movements, and a performance lasts around 30 minutes.

The slow introduction is modeled after Haydn's The Representation of Chaos overture to The Creation oratorio.The opening theme of the Allegro of the first movement derives from the opening theme of Ludwig van Beethoven's String Quartet, Op. 18 No. 4 in the same key.The slow movement is in ABABA form which would be a favorite form for most of Schubert's remaining symphonic slow movements.The themes in the B section are not new. They are developed from the Allegro theme of the first movement and the themes of the A section. The second appearance of B, the third return of A and the beginning of the coda have a sixteenth-note ostinato accompaniment added to help bring cohesiveness to the sections. This was a device that Beethoven had previously used in the slow movements of his Op. 18 No. 1 quartet and his Pathetique sonata.

Source: Wikipedia.

NOTE: In this recording, Kubelik does not make use of ritornello in the first and fourth movements.

Rafael Kubelik & Wiener Philharmoniker, 1960.

Видео Franz Schubert: Symphony No. 4 in C minor "Tragische" D. 417 (1816) канала Mateus Pereira