Subscription Concert C Series

Subscription Concert No.997 C Series

Date: Sat. 27. April 2024 14:00 (13:00)

Venue: Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre Venue Info Seat

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Artists

Kazuhiro KOIZUMI, Conductor

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Program

Schubert: Symphony No.7 in B minor, D759, “Unfinished”

Program Notes
Schubert: Symphony No.8 in C major, D944, “The Great”

Program Notes

Schubert: Symphony No.7 in B minor, D759, “Unfinished”

Ⅰ Allegro moderato
Ⅱ Andante con moto

Franz Peter Schubert: Born in Vienna, January 31, 1797; died in Vienna, November 19, 1828

　　Despite much scholarly research, we still do not know for certain why Schubertʼs B-minor Symphony lies unfinished. Numerous stories and theories, many of them romantically-tinged, have been advanced to explain the mystery: that Schubert lost interest, that he forgot about it, that he saw no possibility of performance, that the remaining movements were lost, that the symphony is complete in its two-movement format, and so on. Evidence strongly suggests that Schubert deliberately, though reluctantly, abandoned the project when he realized that he could not write a third and fourth movement on the same exalted level as the first two. Supporting evidence includes the fact that there exists a large number of other unfinished works from the same period of Schubertʼs life (many of them in minor keys), and that all Schubertʼs preceding symphonies, as well as the Great C-Major that followed, are in four movements. Furthermore, we now know that an almost complete, notably inferior Scherzo for the B-Minor Symphony was sketched out for piano, with nine bars orchestrated. Schubert realized that he was charting a new course at this point in his creative life, and that this new symphony would have to take into account what Beethoven had done in symphonic thought. Uncertain of how to proceed, he abandoned the symphony, unfortunately forever.
　　Schubert worked on the B-minor Symphony in the fall of 1822, then put it aside to devote his attention to the Wanderer Fantasy. When the Styrian Music Society of Graz conferred on him an honorary diploma (a rare public recognition of Schubertʼs achievements in his lifetime) in April of 1823, Schubert offered the incomplete symphony to the Society as a token of gratitude. In all likelihood he still intended to complete the symphony, but wanted the Society to have a new work of substantial proportions, even if still incomplete. The Symphony then passed into private hands and did not resurface until 1860, 32 years after the composerʼs death. Five more years passed before the symphony received its first performance, which Johann Herbeck conducted in the large Redoubtensaal in Viennaʼs Hofburg.
　　Melancholy, yearning and sadness seem to pervade the music, relieved by periodic episodes of gorgeous melody. The symphony opens in dark mystery with a theme in the low strings. Softly murmuring violins continue, the line decorated by oboe and clarinet. Cellos sing − and that is the only word for it − the lilting, waltz-like second subject. These ideas are later developed and build to a powerful climax. The second movement opens with a theme of angelic sweetness, followed by a plaintive, slowly rising theme in the clarinet. Twice this material builds to stormy emotional heights. The movement closes in a haze of seraphic serenity.

Robert Markow's musical career began as a horn player in the Montreal Symphony Orchestra. He now writes program notes for orchestras and concert organizations in the USA, Canada, and several countries in Asia. As a journalist he covers the music scenes across North America, Europe, and Asian countries, especially Japan. At Montreal's McGill University he lectured on music for over 25 years.
　

Schubert: Symphony No.8 in C major, D944, “The Great”

Ⅰ Andante - Allegro ma non troppo
Ⅱ Andante con moto
Ⅲ Scherzo: Allegro vivace
Ⅳ Finale: Allegro vivace

　　Of all the great composers, Schubertʼs life was the shortest. His death at the tragically early age of 31 leaves us with the sobering thought that everything he wrote is actually an “early” work. His crowning achievement in the symphonic medium, the Symphony No. 8 in C major, was written in the final years of his short life. Its nickname, The Great, refers not to a value judgment, much deserved though it may be, but to a need to distinguish it from an earlier Schubert symphony in C, now called The Little C Major (No. 6).
　　This symphony belongs to that category of masterworks that lay quietly on the shelf for years until accidentally “discovered.” At least that is the story generally handed down in countless record annotations, program notes and popular biographies. Recent research has provided a slightly different story. Robert Winter, a professor at UCLA and co-editor of the scholarly journal l9th-Century Music, has noted that “at some point between the summer of 1827 and Schubertʼs death in November of 1828, the work received at least a reading at a rehearsal of the orchestra of the Vienna Society of Friends of Music. Otto Biba, former archivist of the Society writes that “paper and scribal evidence make it clear that sometime in the early 1830s, and for an undetermined occasion, several duplicate orchestral parts were prepared. Moreover, the finale of the symphony was performed at a public concert in Vienna in 1836.”
　　For bringing the symphony to light again, we have Robert Schumann to thank. He was in Vienna in January of 1839 to pay his respects to the cityʼs musical heritage. In the course of a meeting with Schubertʼs brother Ferdinand, Schumann was shown a pile of manuscripts, among which was the C Major Symphony. Schumann wrote about the experience: “The riches that lay piled up there made me tremble with pleasure. Where to begin, where to stop? Who knows how long it would have lain there in dust and darkness, had I not immediately arranged with Ferdinand Schubert to send it to the management of the Gewandhaus Concerts in Leipzig?” The conductor of this orchestra, Felix Mendelssohn, took it immediately to heart and performed it three times, though in drastically reduced form. Mendelssohn reported that “it is, without doubt, one of the best works we have lately heard. Bright, fascinating, and original throughout, it stands at the head of his instrumental works.” Berlioz summed up his own reaction by saying that “This symphony is, to my thinking, worthy of a place among the loftiest productions of our art.”
　　The numerous cuts Mendelssohn introduced into the symphony are easily understood in historical perspective. Except for Beethovenʼs Ninth, this was the longest symphony written to date. It also seemed, to many, to be unnecessarily repetitive. Schumann thought differently, dubbing it the symphony “of heavenly length,” an opinion shared by most listeners today. Another point of historical interest is the prominent use of trombones in all four movements. The symphony was deemed extremely difficult to play right from the beginning, and the years have not considerably lessened demands made on the orchestra. The final movement in particular is one of the most taxing in the repertory for the string players, who must repeat the same rhythmic pattern (a quick triplet) hundreds of times.
　　The symphony is so rich in wonderful moments, memorable themes and imaginative orchestration that only a few can be mentioned here: those magical opening bars − a soft call played by two horns in unison; the enormous buildup of tension that is finally released when the slow introduction passes into the Allegro section; the plaintive oboe theme of the second movement; that haunting passage in the same movement where the horns repeat the note G nine times, ever more softly, ushering in a return of the oboeʼs principal theme; the Viennese grace of the third movementʼs central Trio section, which musicologist Donald Francis Tovey called “a huge single melody − one of the greatest and most exhilarating melodies in the world”; and the sheer length and majestic breadth of the Finale − some l,l55 measures, culminating in a coda of colossal power and blazing glory.

Robert Markow's musical career began as a horn player in the Montreal Symphony Orchestra. He now writes program notes for orchestras and concert organizations in the USA, Canada, and several countries in Asia. As a journalist he covers the music scenes across North America, Europe, and Asian countries, especially Japan. At Montreal's McGill University he lectured on music for over 25 years.

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