History

Piston composed the symphony to mark the 75th Anniversary of the Boston Symphony Orchestra

Boston Symphony Orchestra

The Boston Symphony Orchestra is an orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts. It is one of the five American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five". Founded in 1881, the BSO plays most of its concerts at Boston's Symphony Hall and in the summer performs at the Tanglewood Music Center...

. He dedicated the score to the memory of Serge Koussevitzky

Serge Koussevitzky

Serge Koussevitzky , was a Russian-born Jewish conductor, composer and double-bassist, known for his long tenure as music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra from 1924 to 1949.-Early career:...

 and his wife Natalie. The symphony was first performed by the Boston Symphony Orchestra under Charles Munch, on November 25, 1955.

Analysis

The work, like the earlier Symphony No. 3

Symphony No. 3 (Piston)

The Symphony No. 3 by Walter Piston was composed in 1946–47.-History:The Koussevitzky Music Foundation commissioned the Third Symphony and Piston began work on it in 1946 , completing the score at Woodstock, Vermont, in the summer of 1947...

 and Symphony No. 4

Symphony No. 4 (Piston)

-History:Piston composed his Fourth Symphony on commission from the University of Minnesota to mark the centennary of the university's foundation in the following year...

 is in four movements

Movement (music)

A movement is a self-contained part of a musical composition or musical form. While individual or selected movements from a composition are sometimes performed separately, a performance of the complete work requires all the movements to be performed in succession...

:

• Fluendo espressivo
• Scherzo: Leggerissimo vivace
• Adagio sereno
• Allegro energico

A typical performance will last around 25 minutes.

The symphony opens with a smooth sonata-allegro

Sonata form

Sonata form is a large-scale musical structure used widely since the middle of the 18th century . While it is typically used in the first movement of multi-movement pieces, it is sometimes used in subsequent movements as well—particularly the final movement...

 movement in A minor that gives the effect of a single flowing gesture. Both main themes are in 3/4 time, the first unfolding in the violins, the second passed around the woodwinds. In the recapitulation, the return of the first theme is delayed until the very end of the movement. The second movement is a scherzo, and is unusual in Piston's output both for harmonic novelty and an adventurous approach to orchestration. The percussion section is prominent throughout the movement, and the pizzicato muted strings playing in parallel seconds add another percussive layer, woven together with pianissimo scurrying chromatic lines. The third movement, Adagio sereno, is in five-part rondo

Rondo

Rondo, and its French equivalent rondeau, is a word that has been used in music in a number of ways, most often in reference to a musical form, but also to a character-type that is distinct from the form...

 form: ABABA. The A theme is first presented by the solo cello. The second time A occurs, this theme is embellished, and the final A powerfully recapitulates it in the full orchestra. The B theme is contrasting and more delicate. Near the end of the movement the solo cello returns to play the well-known BACH motif

BACH motif

In music, the BACH motif is the motif, a succession of notes important or characteristic to a piece, B flat, A, C, B natural. In German musical nomenclature, in which the note B natural is written as H and the B flat as B, it forms Johann Sebastian Bach's family name...

, B-A-C-B—the four notes which, in a different order, had begun the first movement. The finale is heavily scored but gives the illusion of lightness and transparency. It is a sectional form in A major, with well-defined, extroverted themes. The first and third movements, as well as the second and fourth, are paired through the use of mode (minor in the first and third, major in the second and fourth), motives (broadly lyrical vs. brightly syncopated), form, color, and mood, and a satisfying, balanced whole is achieved in this way, along with the key scheme of the four movements: A minor, D major, F minor, and A major.

Further reading

• Lindenfeld, Harris Nelson. 1975. "Three Symphonies of Walter Piston: An Analysis". DMA thesis, Part 2. Ithaca: Cornell University.