Symphony No. 8 (Schubert)
Encyclopedia
Franz Schubert
's Symphony No. 8 in B minor (sometimes renumbered as Symphony No. 7), commonly known as the "Unfinished Symphony
" , D.759, was started in 1822 but left with only two movements known to be complete, even though Schubert would live for another six years. A scherzo
, nearly completed in piano score but with only two pages orchestrated, also survives. It has long been theorized that Schubert may have sketched a finale which instead became the big B minor entr'acte
from his incidental music to Rosamunde
, but all the evidence for this is circumstantial. One possible reason for Schubert's leaving the symphony incomplete is the predominance of the same meter
(three-in-a-bar). The first movement is in 3/4, the second in 3/8 and the third (an incomplete scherzo) also in 3/4. Three consecutive movements in exactly the same meter rarely occur in the symphonies, sonata
s or chamber works
of the great Viennese composers (one notable exception being Haydn's Farewell Symphony
).
Music Society gave Schubert an honorary diploma. He felt obliged to dedicate a symphony to them in return, and provided to his friend Anselm Hüttenbrenner
, who was a representative of the society, a score he had written in 1822. This much is known.
What is not known, and will almost certainly never be known, is how much of the symphony Schubert wrote, and how much of what he did write he gave to Hüttenbrenner. The following exists: the first two movements exist in full score, the first two pages of a scherzo in full score, and the remainder of the scherzo in piano score, but nothing of any fourth movement. A finale (fourth movement) in the home key (B minor) would have been the norm for any symphony written at that time, but there is no direct evidence that Schubert ever started work on this movement. It has been surmised that the Entr'acte from Rosamunde (written in B minor and with the same instrumentation as the symphony) was that fourth movement, which Schubert appropriated for the play, but scholars are not in agreement about this. There appear to have been pages torn out after the beginning of the scherzo.
The fact that Hüttenbrenner did not have the piece performed, or even make the society aware he had the manuscript, is curious and has led to various theories. Was he given an incomplete score by Schubert and was waiting for the remainder to be provided before saying anything? If so, he waited in vain for the remaining five years of Schubert's life. After Schubert died in 1828, why did Hüttenbrenner not then make the existence of the manuscript known? Do the torn pages suggest he had somehow damaged the piece and managed to lose or even destroy the last two movements? Was guilt the reason he said nothing about the work's existence for 37 years after Schubert died? Old age and approaching death seem to have been a factor in Hüttenbrenner finally revealing the work. This happened in 1865, when he was 76 (he was to die three years later). He showed it to the conductor Johann von Herbeck
, who conducted the extant two movements on 17 December 1865 in Vienna
, adding the last movement of Schubert's 3rd Symphony
as the finale. This performance was met with great enthusiasm by the audience. The score of the symphony was not published until after 1867.
Sometimes this work is referred to as Symphony No. 7 (for example in the New Schubert Edition), since the other work sometimes referred to as Schubert's 7th was also left incomplete, but in a different way.
, which are all of the symphony as it is performed in the concert repertoire, are:
, opening softly in the strings followed by a melody sounded by the oboe and clarinet. A typical Schubertian transition consists of just four measures, effectively modulating to the submediant
key of G major (mm. 38-41). The second subject group is played by the celli and repeated by the violins. An emphatic closing theme features heavy sforzandi, and is based on continual development of the second subject.
An important moment in the first movement occurs in measure 109 (and is repeated in measure 327). In these measures, Schubert holds a tonic 'B' pedal in the second bassoon and first horn under the dominant F chord, that evokes the end of the development in Beethoven's Eroica Symphony
. Unfortunately in recent times, a well-meaning (but inexperienced) editor removed this dissonance by altering the second bassoon and first horn part. Conductors must check these parts carefully to make sure that the 'B' pedal is intact. Unusually for sonata form, the opening of the development is the opening theme in E minor, the subdominant, rather than the dominant key which would be expected at the end of the exposition.
The development section is extended and features a reworking of the primary theme group. Near the end, the flutes and oboes recapture their melodic role from the movement's beginning, preparing a transition to the recapitulation.
The recapitulation follows standard sonata form principles. The closing theme reaches the threshold where the exposition had repeated, but leads instead to a coda in the tonic that recalls the opening theme.
The fragment of the scherzo intended as the third movement returns to B minor.
After Hüttenbrenner's revelation of the two completed movements of this symphony, some music historians and scholars toiled to "prove" the composition was complete in this form, and indeed, in its two-movement form it has proved to be one of Schubert's most cherished compositions. The fact that classical decorum was unlikely to accept that a symphony could end in a different key from its beginning, and the even more undeniable fact that Schubert had begun a third movement (of which the score he gave to Hüttenbrenner included the first page) seems to disprove the above-mentioned hypothesis.
composed his Sixth Symphony, La Tragica (in memory of 19 November 1828) as a tribute to Schubert on the centenary of his death. The second movement of Weingartner's symphony is a realization of the Scherzo that Schubert had intended for the "Unfinished Symphony". In 1928, the anniversary of Schubert's death, the Columbia Graphophone Company held a world-wide competition to complete the symphony (see the article on the competition
for citations). Probably about 100 completions were submitted, but also a much larger number of original works. The pianist
Frank Merrick
won the "English Zone" of competition and his scherzo and finale were later performed and recorded, but are now largely forgotten.
Only some of the completions — Merrick's is not one of them — make use of Schubert's sketched scherzo. The first movement of Joseph Holbrooke
's Fourth Symphony, one of the British entrants for the competition, is mostly a performing version of Schubert's scherzo (the trio
of which had to be completed), and a theme from the scherzo appears in his finale. Independent completions of the scherzo movement were made by Geoffrey Bush
in 1944 and the conductor Denis Vaughan
in about 1960.
More recently, the English musicologists Gerald Abraham
and Brian Newbould
have also offered completions of the whole symphony, using Schubert's scherzo and the entr'acte
from his incidental music
for the play Rosamunde
. This movement had long been suspected by some musicologists to be the finale for this symphony. (In fact, it was played as a finale at the symphony's British premiere on 6 April 1867.) Both works have B minor as their fundamental key
, they have identical instrumentation
, the entr'acte is in sonata-form (as are all Schubert's symphonic finales) and they share a very similar mood. If the entr'acte indeed started life as the finale of this symphony, then Schubert evidently discarded it (probably at that stage unorchestrated) from the symphony and used it instead in the play, presumably only orchestrating it for this purpose and perhaps making compositional changes.
The Russian
composer Anton Safronov has completed the 3rd movement based on Schubert's sketch and created a new finale for the symphony (some themes of it are based upon a number of Schubert keyboard works), which he has described as 'an attempt to move into the mind of the composer'. Safronov's completion was performed at the Royal Festival Hall
in London
on 6th November 2007 with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment
as well as on 2nd October 2007 with the Russian National Orchestra
(followed by the American tour in the early 2008), both conducted by Vladimir Jurowski
. Due to the project's daring and unusual plan, Anton Safronov's completion has received varied criticisms (the definitely positive as well as the ambivalent and the negative ones).
The Cambridge
professor of composition, Robin Holloway
has realised the Scherzo, based upon, but not bound to, the sketches. His realisation has two trios, the first from the sketches, and the second entirely his own composition. It is to be premiered by the Cambridge University Musical Society on 18/06/2011.
Franz Schubert
Franz Peter Schubert was an Austrian composer.Although he died at an early age, Schubert was tremendously prolific. He wrote some 600 Lieder, nine symphonies , liturgical music, operas, some incidental music, and a large body of chamber and solo piano music...
's Symphony No. 8 in B minor (sometimes renumbered as Symphony No. 7), commonly known as the "Unfinished Symphony
Unfinished symphony
An unfinished symphony is a fragment of a symphony left by composers that are considered incomplete or unfinished for various reasons. The archetypal unfinished symphony is Franz Schubert's Symphony No. 8, written in 1822, six years before his death. It features two fully orchestrated movements...
" , D.759, was started in 1822 but left with only two movements known to be complete, even though Schubert would live for another six years. A scherzo
Scherzo
A scherzo is a piece of music, often a movement from a larger piece such as a symphony or a sonata. The scherzo's precise definition has varied over the years, but it often refers to a movement which replaces the minuet as the third movement in a four-movement work, such as a symphony, sonata, or...
, nearly completed in piano score but with only two pages orchestrated, also survives. It has long been theorized that Schubert may have sketched a finale which instead became the big B minor entr'acte
Entr'acte
' is French for "between the acts" . It can mean a pause between two parts of a stage production, synonymous to an intermission, but it more often indicates a piece of music performed between acts of a theatrical production...
from his incidental music to Rosamunde
Rosamunde
Rosamunde can refer to:* The German name for the Beer Barrel Polka* Music by Franz Schubert:**Rosamunde incidental music**Rosamunde String Quartet **Impromptu in B flat major, Op. 142 No. 3...
, but all the evidence for this is circumstantial. One possible reason for Schubert's leaving the symphony incomplete is the predominance of the same meter
Meter (music)
Meter or metre is a term that music has inherited from the rhythmic element of poetry where it means the number of lines in a verse, the number of syllables in each line and the arrangement of those syllables as long or short, accented or unaccented...
(three-in-a-bar). The first movement is in 3/4, the second in 3/8 and the third (an incomplete scherzo) also in 3/4. Three consecutive movements in exactly the same meter rarely occur in the symphonies, sonata
Sonata
Sonata , in music, literally means a piece played as opposed to a cantata , a piece sung. The term, being vague, naturally evolved through the history of music, designating a variety of forms prior to the Classical era...
s or chamber works
Chamber music
Chamber music is a form of classical music, written for a small group of instruments which traditionally could be accommodated in a palace chamber. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small number of performers with one performer to a part...
of the great Viennese composers (one notable exception being Haydn's Farewell Symphony
Symphony No. 45 (Haydn)
Symphony No. 45 in F-sharp minor, known as the "Farewell" Symphony , was composed by Joseph Haydn in 1772....
).
Early history
In 1823, the GrazGraz
The more recent population figures do not give the whole picture as only people with principal residence status are counted and people with secondary residence status are not. Most of the people with secondary residence status in Graz are students...
Music Society gave Schubert an honorary diploma. He felt obliged to dedicate a symphony to them in return, and provided to his friend Anselm Hüttenbrenner
Anselm Hüttenbrenner
Anselm Hüttenbrenner , was an Austrian composer. He was on friendly terms with both Ludwig van Beethovenhe was one of only two people present at his deathand Franz Schubert, his recollections of whom constitute an interesting but probably unreliable document in Schubertian biographical...
, who was a representative of the society, a score he had written in 1822. This much is known.
What is not known, and will almost certainly never be known, is how much of the symphony Schubert wrote, and how much of what he did write he gave to Hüttenbrenner. The following exists: the first two movements exist in full score, the first two pages of a scherzo in full score, and the remainder of the scherzo in piano score, but nothing of any fourth movement. A finale (fourth movement) in the home key (B minor) would have been the norm for any symphony written at that time, but there is no direct evidence that Schubert ever started work on this movement. It has been surmised that the Entr'acte from Rosamunde (written in B minor and with the same instrumentation as the symphony) was that fourth movement, which Schubert appropriated for the play, but scholars are not in agreement about this. There appear to have been pages torn out after the beginning of the scherzo.
The fact that Hüttenbrenner did not have the piece performed, or even make the society aware he had the manuscript, is curious and has led to various theories. Was he given an incomplete score by Schubert and was waiting for the remainder to be provided before saying anything? If so, he waited in vain for the remaining five years of Schubert's life. After Schubert died in 1828, why did Hüttenbrenner not then make the existence of the manuscript known? Do the torn pages suggest he had somehow damaged the piece and managed to lose or even destroy the last two movements? Was guilt the reason he said nothing about the work's existence for 37 years after Schubert died? Old age and approaching death seem to have been a factor in Hüttenbrenner finally revealing the work. This happened in 1865, when he was 76 (he was to die three years later). He showed it to the conductor Johann von Herbeck
Johann von Herbeck
Johann Ritter von Herbeck was an Austrian musician, born in Vienna, best known for leading the premiere of Franz Schubert's "Unfinished" Symphony....
, who conducted the extant two movements on 17 December 1865 in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, adding the last movement of Schubert's 3rd Symphony
Symphony No. 3 (Schubert)
Franz Schubert's Symphony No. 3 in D major, D. 200, was written between 24 May and 19 July 1815, a few months after his eighteenth birthday. The length of this symphony is approximately 21–23 minutes. It is in four movements:...
as the finale. This performance was met with great enthusiasm by the audience. The score of the symphony was not published until after 1867.
Sometimes this work is referred to as Symphony No. 7 (for example in the New Schubert Edition), since the other work sometimes referred to as Schubert's 7th was also left incomplete, but in a different way.
The completed portion
The two complete, and completely orchestrated movementsMovement (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...
, which are all of the symphony as it is performed in the concert repertoire, are:
First Movement: Allegro moderato in B minor
The symphony's first movement is in sonata formSonata 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...
, opening softly in the strings followed by a melody sounded by the oboe and clarinet. A typical Schubertian transition consists of just four measures, effectively modulating to the submediant
Submediant
In music, the submediant is the sixth scale degree of the diatonic scale, the 'lower mediant' halfway between the tonic and the subdominant or 'lower dominant'...
key of G major (mm. 38-41). The second subject group is played by the celli and repeated by the violins. An emphatic closing theme features heavy sforzandi, and is based on continual development of the second subject.
An important moment in the first movement occurs in measure 109 (and is repeated in measure 327). In these measures, Schubert holds a tonic 'B' pedal in the second bassoon and first horn under the dominant F chord, that evokes the end of the development in Beethoven's Eroica Symphony
Symphony No. 3 (Beethoven)
Ludwig van Beethoven's Symphony No. 3 in E flat major , also known as the Eroica , is a landmark musical work marking the full arrival of the composer's "middle-period," a series of unprecedented large scale works of emotional depth and structural rigor.The symphony is widely regarded as a mature...
. Unfortunately in recent times, a well-meaning (but inexperienced) editor removed this dissonance by altering the second bassoon and first horn part. Conductors must check these parts carefully to make sure that the 'B' pedal is intact. Unusually for sonata form, the opening of the development is the opening theme in E minor, the subdominant, rather than the dominant key which would be expected at the end of the exposition.
The development section is extended and features a reworking of the primary theme group. Near the end, the flutes and oboes recapture their melodic role from the movement's beginning, preparing a transition to the recapitulation.
The recapitulation follows standard sonata form principles. The closing theme reaches the threshold where the exposition had repeated, but leads instead to a coda in the tonic that recalls the opening theme.
Second Movement: Andante con moto in E major
The second movement alternates between two contrasting themes. The first is introduced by the low strings, brass and high strings playing in counterpoint. The second theme appears first in the solo clarinet before passing to the oboe.The fragment of the scherzo intended as the third movement returns to B minor.
After Hüttenbrenner's revelation of the two completed movements of this symphony, some music historians and scholars toiled to "prove" the composition was complete in this form, and indeed, in its two-movement form it has proved to be one of Schubert's most cherished compositions. The fact that classical decorum was unlikely to accept that a symphony could end in a different key from its beginning, and the even more undeniable fact that Schubert had begun a third movement (of which the score he gave to Hüttenbrenner included the first page) seems to disprove the above-mentioned hypothesis.
Modern completions
In 1927-28, Felix WeingartnerFelix Weingartner
Paul Felix von Weingartner, Edler von Münzberg was an Austrian conductor, composer and pianist.-Biography:...
composed his Sixth Symphony, La Tragica (in memory of 19 November 1828) as a tribute to Schubert on the centenary of his death. The second movement of Weingartner's symphony is a realization of the Scherzo that Schubert had intended for the "Unfinished Symphony". In 1928, the anniversary of Schubert's death, the Columbia Graphophone Company held a world-wide competition to complete the symphony (see the article on the competition
1928 International Columbia Graphophone Competition
The 1928 International Columbia Graphophone Competition was a competition part-sponsored by the Columbia Record Company in honour of the centenary of the death of Franz Schubert. Its original aim was to encourage composers to produce completions of Schubert's 'Unfinished' Symphony but the rules...
for citations). Probably about 100 completions were submitted, but also a much larger number of original works. The pianist
Pianist
A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...
Frank Merrick
Frank Merrick
Frank Merrick was an English pianist in the early 1900s. He was born in Clifton, now part of Bristol.Merrick's peers included Artur Schnabel and Mark Hambourg, and he studied with Theodor Leschetizky. From 1911 to 1929, he taught at the Royal Manchester College of Music and from 1929 at the Royal...
won the "English Zone" of competition and his scherzo and finale were later performed and recorded, but are now largely forgotten.
Only some of the completions — Merrick's is not one of them — make use of Schubert's sketched scherzo. The first movement of Joseph Holbrooke
Joseph Holbrooke
Joseph Charles Holbrooke was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was sometimes referred to as "the cockney Wagner".-Family:...
's Fourth Symphony, one of the British entrants for the competition, is mostly a performing version of Schubert's scherzo (the trio
Trio (music)
Trio is generally used in any of the following ways:* A group of three musicians playing the same or different musical instrument.* The performance of a piece of music by three people.* The contrasting section of a piece in ternary form...
of which had to be completed), and a theme from the scherzo appears in his finale. Independent completions of the scherzo movement were made by Geoffrey Bush
Geoffrey Bush
Geoffrey Bush was a British composer, organist and scholar of 20th century English music.Geoffrey Bush was born in London, became a chorister at Salisbury Cathedral at the age of 8 and studied informally with the composer John Ireland...
in 1944 and the conductor Denis Vaughan
Denis Vaughan
Denis Vaughan is an orchestral conductor most famous for his role as the driving force behind the creation of the United Kingdom's National Lottery. He is a campaigner for wider access to arts and culture for young people, and promotes the health benefits of music, the arts and sport...
in about 1960.
More recently, the English musicologists Gerald Abraham
Gerald Abraham
Gerald Ernest Heal Abraham, CBE, FBA was an English musicologist; he was President of the Royal Musical Association, 1970-74.- Career :* Assistant Editor, Radio Times, 1935–39* Deputy Editor, The Listener, 1939–42...
and Brian Newbould
Brian Newbould
Brian Newbould is a composer, conductor and author who has finished Franz Schubert's Unfinished Symphony and more symphonic works and even extra symphonies. He was educated at Gravesend Grammar School.-References:...
have also offered completions of the whole symphony, using Schubert's scherzo and the entr'acte
Entr'acte
' is French for "between the acts" . It can mean a pause between two parts of a stage production, synonymous to an intermission, but it more often indicates a piece of music performed between acts of a theatrical production...
from his incidental music
Incidental music
Incidental music is music in a play, television program, radio program, video game, film or some other form not primarily musical. The term is less frequently applied to film music, with such music being referred to instead as the "film score" or "soundtrack"....
for the play Rosamunde
Rosamunde
Rosamunde can refer to:* The German name for the Beer Barrel Polka* Music by Franz Schubert:**Rosamunde incidental music**Rosamunde String Quartet **Impromptu in B flat major, Op. 142 No. 3...
. This movement had long been suspected by some musicologists to be the finale for this symphony. (In fact, it was played as a finale at the symphony's British premiere on 6 April 1867.) Both works have B minor as their fundamental key
Key (music)
In music theory, the term key is used in many different and sometimes contradictory ways. A common use is to speak of music as being "in" a specific key, such as in the key of C major or in the key of F-sharp. Sometimes the terms "major" or "minor" are appended, as in the key of A minor or in the...
, they have identical instrumentation
Instrumentation (music)
In music, instrumentation refers to the particular combination of musical instruments employed in a composition, and to the properties of those instruments individually...
, the entr'acte is in sonata-form (as are all Schubert's symphonic finales) and they share a very similar mood. If the entr'acte indeed started life as the finale of this symphony, then Schubert evidently discarded it (probably at that stage unorchestrated) from the symphony and used it instead in the play, presumably only orchestrating it for this purpose and perhaps making compositional changes.
The Russian
Russians
The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....
composer Anton Safronov has completed the 3rd movement based on Schubert's sketch and created a new finale for the symphony (some themes of it are based upon a number of Schubert keyboard works), which he has described as 'an attempt to move into the mind of the composer'. Safronov's completion was performed at the Royal Festival Hall
Royal Festival Hall
The Royal Festival Hall is a 2,900-seat concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London. It is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames, not far from Hungerford Bridge. It is a Grade I listed building - the first post-war building to become so protected...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
on 6th November 2007 with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment
Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment
The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment is a British period instrument orchestra. The OAE is a resident orchestra of the Southbank Centre, London, associate orchestra at Glyndebourne Festival Opera and has its headquarters at Kings Place...
as well as on 2nd October 2007 with the Russian National Orchestra
Russian National Orchestra
The Russian National Orchestra premiered in Moscow in 1990.It was the first Russian orchestra to perform at the Apostolic Palace, Vatican and in Israel....
(followed by the American tour in the early 2008), both conducted by Vladimir Jurowski
Vladimir Jurowski
Vladimir Mikhailovich Jurowski is a Russian conductor. He is the son of conductor Mikhail Jurowski.Jurowski began his musical studies at the Moscow Conservatory...
. Due to the project's daring and unusual plan, Anton Safronov's completion has received varied criticisms (the definitely positive as well as the ambivalent and the negative ones).
The Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
professor of composition, Robin Holloway
Robin Holloway
Robin Greville Holloway is an English composer.-Early life:From 1952 to 1957, he was a chorister at St Paul's Cathedral...
has realised the Scherzo, based upon, but not bound to, the sketches. His realisation has two trios, the first from the sketches, and the second entirely his own composition. It is to be premiered by the Cambridge University Musical Society on 18/06/2011.
See also
- Leopold GodowskyLeopold GodowskyLeopold Godowsky was a famed Polish American pianist, composer, and teacher. One of the most highly regarded performers of his time, he became known for his theories concerning the application of relaxed weight and economy of motion in piano playing, principles later propagated by Godowsky's...
composed a PassacagliaPassacaglia (Godowsky)Passacaglia is a solo piano composition by the composer Leopold Godowsky. It was completed in New York, on October 21, 1927. The composition commemorates the one hundredth anniversary of the death of Franz Schubert...
with 44 Variations, cadenza and fugue on the opening theme of Schubert's Unfinished Symphony, for piano.
Further reading
- Corey Field, editor. The Musician's Guide to Symphonic Music: Essays from the EulenburgErnst Eulenburg (musical editions)Ernst Eulenburg the music publisher was established by Ernst Eulenburg in Leipzig in 1874. The firm started by publishing a series of studies by a Dresden piano teacher, and then expanded into light music and works for men's chorus, at first all non-copyright works.-Origins of the miniature...
Scores. Schott Music Corporation - Brian Newbould, Schubert and the Symphony: A New Perspective (Toccata Press, 1992)
External links
- Piano reduction (Note: the PDF shows C-naturals in measures 198 and 200 of the first movement; these should be C-sharps.)
- About the Composition: Symphony No. 8 in B minor, D. 759 ("Unfinished"), Kennedy Center, Washington, D.C.