St Petersburg, Concert Hall

Robert Schumann. Symphonies No 2 and 3



See also:
12 July 2011, Tuesday, 20:00
Robert Schumann. Symphonies No 1 and 4

Robert Schumann dedicated ten years of his life to piano music as if he didn’t even notice any other instruments or the human voice. But starting at the age of thirty he suddenly began to discover hitherto unchartered territories. 1840 was his year of song, 1842 his year of chamber music and 1843 his year of oratorios, and the initiative often came from Clara Schumann. And each time that Schumann took to a new genre he would compose for days on end, forgetting about sleep and relaxation.

This was what happened with his First Symphony, which was basically composed over four days (and nights!) in January 1841. The composer referred to his then status as “symphonic ardour”. Already on 31 March the symphony was performed to great acclaim at the Gewandhaus in Leipzig. It bears the title Frühling (Spring) and was inspired by the romantic poems by Adolph Boettger (as well as by Clara’s advice to compose something for orchestra).

The same year Schumann composed a work that he initially called a “suite” or “sinfonietta”, which in 1846 was published under the title Overture, Scherzo and Finale. Also in May 1841 the composer was working intensely on his Symphony in D Minor, later published as his Fourth. The movements of this symphony are connected with general musical themes and are performed without intervals, although in the 19th century audiences became accustomed to applauding after each movement and even demanding an encore of individual movements. Perhaps that is why music lovers in Leipzig gave it a rather cool reception at the premiere on 6 December.

Work on the Second Symphony lasted throughout 1846. Schumann’s health gradually recovered following a severe illness and working on the symphony was the best medicine for him. Among his orchestral works the Second Symphony is the most classical and positive, while Schumann’s interest in the music of Bach, then at its height, could be seen in the generous use of polyphonic techniques.

His final symphony was the Third (Die Rheinische), in 1850 when Schumann took the post of Music Director in Düsseldorf. Schumann worked on the Symphony from 2 November until 9 December and performed it for the first time in Düsseldorf on 6 February the next year. Just before starting work on the composition, in September or early in November Schumann visited Cologne, where he saw the famous Gothic cathedral, begun back in 1248 but still incomplete by the Middle Ages (building work was resumed in 1842 and completed in 1880). It was his impressions of Cologne that inspired the composer to write his symphony in five movements, its “calling card” being the fourth movement “in the style of a triumphant ceremony” (meaning the ceremony of the elevation of the Archbishop of Cologne to that of Cardinal). This movement is the most original, and it is entirely gloomy thanks to the “dark” tonality in E Flat Minor, the funereal timbre of the trombones and the use of Bach’s “crucifix motif”.
Anna Bulycheva

Main sponsors    

Age category 6+

Any use or copying of site materials, design elements or layout is forbidden without the permission of the rightholder.
user_nameExit