Symphony No.9 in C Major

Symphony in C major D 944 was considered the composer's final completed symphony for a very long period. It is known as No 9, but is sometimes called “the Eighth” or “Seventh” and even “the Tenth”. This ambiguity in the numbering stems from the fact that none of his symphonic opuses were published while he was alive. The date written on the first page of the manuscript: "March 1828." is disputed by musicologist Robert Winter - an analysis of the sheet music shows that the actual date of the composition was several years earlier. As a support of this thesis serves a letter from Schubert, in which he mentioned that he had worked on a great symphony in the summer of 1825 during his vacation in Gmunden and Bad Gastein. In fact, this is the work called the "Great" Symphony in C major D 944 to distinguish it from the Sixth, "Small" Symphony in C major D 589 (written in 1817-18). The letter in which he dedicates his work to the Society of Music Lovers in Vienna is also preserved. As a token of gratitude for the gesture, not as a fee, Schubert was paid a reward of 100 florins in 1826. For unknown reasons, though, his dream of hearing the public performance of the symphony did not come true. After the composer's death, most of the author's manuscripts were inherited by his brother Ferdinand. In 1835 "Neue Zeitschrift für Musik” ” (the newspaper, published by Robert Schumann) published a list of "The Larger Posthumous Works of Franz Schubert", announced for sale. The response was insignificant ... In 1837, Robert Schumann visited Vienna and was shown the manuscripts of the symphonies by Ferdinand Schubert. "The sight of this treasure excited me with joy... He drew my attention to the dozens of symphonies, many of which had never been heard, but were preserved as too heavy and raw, unpolished. There, among the piles, lay a volume of 130 pages dated 1828. The manuscript, including the corrections, was written entirely by Schubert's hand, who wrote as fast as his pen could. This symphony in C, Schubert's last and greatest, has never been performed. " - that's how Schumann tells about his discovery. And with great enthusiasm he organized the premiere. It took place on March 12^th , 1839 in Leipzig with the Gewandhaus Orchestra under the direction of Felix Mendelssohn. In his famous essay on this symphony, Schumann remarks with intoxication: "The music mastery of the composition technique lives in every fiber, tinted in finest shades, in the sharp outlines of the details and all that overwhelmed by Romanticism, so common with Schubert. And this celestial length! Like a thick novel in four parts by Jean Paul - endless, which the reader would like to continue in the same spirit ... The brilliance and innovation of the orchestration, the breadth and space of the form, the striking mood swings, the whole new world we are transported into - all this can confuse the listener, like any initial encounter with the unknown. But it leaves a wonderful aftertaste like the one we experience at the end of a fairy or magic play. The feeling remains that the composer knew exactly what he wanted to say and how to say it, as well as the confidence that the essence of the music will become clear over time. ” However, not everyone shared Schumann's admiration - it is the "celestial length" (the symphony lasts almost an hour, more than Beethoven's Ninth Symphony!) that amazed the audience initially. And the orchestra members resent its extravagant length and complexity. In Vienna, only the first two parts of the work were presented, and an aria from Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor was wedged between them. It was presented in London in 1856 only - there the symphony was divided into two parts. In order not to bore the audience they were performed at intervals of a week. In the end, Schumann turned out to be a true prophet. Today, the "Great" Symphony in C major takes its rightful place alongside Schubert's other masterpiece, the Symphony No 8 in B minor, known as "Unfinished." Unlike its unusual two-part structure, No 9 is in the classical four-part form: sonata allegro - slow part - scherzo - fast finale. Schubert was an ardent admirer of Beethoven, from whom he learned the mastery of motif development, attended the premiere of his Symphony No 9. It was that symphony which encouraged him to write his "Great" symphony a year later.