The Symphony in C major by German composer
Robert Schumann
Robert Schumann (; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and influential music critic. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers of the Romantic era. Schumann left the study of law, intending to pursue a career a ...
was published in 1847 as his Symphony No. 2, Op. 61, although it was the third symphony he had completed, counting the
B-flat major symphony published as
No. 1 in 1841, and the original version of his
D minor symphony of 1841 (later revised and published as
No. 4). It is dedicated to
Oscar I, king of Sweden and Norway.
Background
Schumann began to sketch the symphony on December 12, 1845, and had a robust draft of the entire work by December 28. He spent most of the next year orchestrating, beginning February 12, 1846. His depression and poor health, including ringing in his ears, prevented him finishing the work until October 19. The uplifting tone of the symphony is thus remarkable considering Schumann's health problems during the time of its composition—the work can be seen as a
Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classic ...
ian triumph over fate/pessimism, as Beethoven himself described in the
Heiligenstadt Testament.
The year of 1845 was important for Schumann because it signaled a shift in his compositional strategy. He began to compose away from the piano, as he noted in his writing:
Not until the year 1845, when I began to conceive and work out everything in my head, did an entirely different manner of composition begin to develop
The strategic shift above can be ascribed to his intensive study of counterpoint in the same year with his wife,
Clara Schumann.
[Daverio, John, and Eric Sams. 2001 "Schumann, Robert." ''Grove Music Online''. 16 Mar. 2019. http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000040704.] Hence, this symphony can be seen as a direct product of his shift of compositional strategy and counterpoint study.
Movements
The symphony is written in the traditional four-movement form, and as often in the nineteenth century the Scherzo precedes the Adagio. All four movements are in
C major, except the first part of the slow movement (in
C minor); the work is thus
homotonal:
A typical performance lasts between 35 and 40 minutes. It is scored for an orchestra consisting of two
flute
The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedles ...
s, two
oboe
The oboe ( ) is a type of double reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites. The most common oboe plays in the treble or soprano range.
...
s, two
clarinet
The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The instrument has a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell, and uses a single reed to produce sound.
Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitch ...
s (in B), two
bassoons, two
French horn
The French horn (since the 1930s known simply as the horn in professional music circles) is a brass instrument made of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. The double horn in F/B (technically a variety of German horn) is the horn most ...
s (in C), two
trumpet
The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...
s (in C), three
trombones (alto, tenor, and bass),
timpani, and
strings.
Performance history
The symphony was first performed on November 5, 1846, at the
Gewandhaus in Leipzig with
Felix Mendelssohn conducting. It was better received after a second performance some ten days later. The work ultimately came to be admired in the nineteenth century for its "perceived metaphysical content",
[Seaton, 191] but the symphony's popularity waned in the twentieth, owing to its unusual structure.
References
* Seaton, Douglass (2008). "Back from B-A-C-H: Schumann’s Symphony No. 2 in C Major". In Gregory G. Butler, George B. Stauffer, and Mary Dalton Greer. ''About Bach''. University of Illinois Press. .
Further reading
*
*
External links
*
Program notes from a Richmond Symphony concert(it)
Listings of live performances from BachtrackAutograph manuscript in composer's hand
at The Juilliard Manuscript Collection
{{Authority control
2
1846 compositions
Compositions in C major