Franz Schubert: Symphony No. 4 in C minor 'Tragische' D. 417 (1816)

00:00 Adagio molto - Allegro vivace
08:38 Andante con moto
17:17 Menuetto & Trio: allegro vivace
21:06 Allegro

Franz Schubert (1797-1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short lifetime, Schubert left behind a vast oeuvre, including more than 600 secular vocal works (mainly lieder), seven complete symphonies, sacred music, operas, incidental music and a large body of piano and chamber music. His major works include the Piano Quintet in A major, D. 667 (Trout Quintet), the Symphony No. 8 in B minor, D. 759 (Unfinished Symphony), the ”Great” Symphony No. 9 in C major, D. 944, the three last piano sonatas (D. 958–960), the opera Fierrabras (D. 796), the incidental music to the play Rosamunde (D. 797), and the song cycles Die schöne Müllerin (D. 795) and Winterreise (D. 911).Schubert added the title Tragic to his autograph manuscript some time after the work was completed. It is not known why. It can be noted, however, that the symphony is one of only two he wrote (the Unfinished Symphony is the other) in a minor key. The scoring is for 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets in B♭, 2 bassoons, 4 horns in A♭, C and E♭, 2 trumpets in C and E♭, timpani and strings. There are four movements, and a performance lasts around 30 minutes.

The slow introduction is modeled after Haydn's The Representation of Chaos overture to The Creation oratorio.The opening theme of the Allegro of the first movement derives from the opening theme of Ludwig van Beethoven's String Quartet, Op. 18 No. 4 in the same key.The slow movement is in ABABA form which would be a favorite form for most of Schubert's remaining symphonic slow movements.The themes in the B section are not new. They are developed from the Allegro theme of the first movement and the themes of the A section. The second appearance of B, the third return of A and the beginning of the coda have a sixteenth-note ostinato accompaniment added to help bring cohesiveness to the sections. This was a device that Beethoven had previously used in the slow movements of his Op. 18 No. 1 quartet and his Pathetique sonata.

Source: Wikipedia.

NOTE: In this recording, Kubelik does not make use of ritornello in the first and fourth movements.

Rafael Kubelik & Wiener Philharmoniker, 1960.

[jsabuilds]

In my opinion the videos with the musical score are the best.

[bachianm]

The great maestro Rafael Kubelik! One of the best orchestras in the world. A beautiful rendition. Thank you for posting!

[PushkaryovVsevolod]

Величайшая из всех когда либо написанных симфоний.

[ЛизаВолошина-пю]

00:00 Adagio molto - Allegro vivace
02:53 Гп
03:43 Пп
05:09 Разработка
06:12 реприза

08:38 Andante con moto
10:28 тема 2

17:17 Menuetto & Trio: allegro vivace
18:59 Трио

21:06 Allegro
24:24 Ля мажорная темка

[carl.christiansson]

I had only heard no. 5, 8 and 9 before... Damn this is great

[GlaceonStudios]

FORMAL ANALYSIS

I. 0:00
Adagio molto. (C minor, binary form, 3/4)
- Intro chord 0:06
- A section (C minor - Gb major) 0:12
- B section (Gb major - C minor) 1:08
Allegro vivace. (C minor, sonata form, common time)
EXPOSITION
- **P**rimary theme (C minor) 2:53
- **T**ransition (C minor - Ab major) 3:06
- **S**econdary theme (Ab major) 3:44
- Harmonic excursion (Ab major - E major - C major - Ab major) 4:09
- **C**losing theme (Ab major) 4:45
- (Re)Transition 5:08
DEVELOPMENT
- Pre-core (P fragments) 5:13
- Core part 1 (P based) 5:23
- Core part 2 (P based) 5:51
RECAPITULATION
- P theme (G minor) 6:09
- T (G minor - Eb major) 6:21
- S (Eb major) 7:00
- HE (Eb major - E major - C major) 7:24
- C (C major) 7:49
CODA (C major)
- Upward scales 8:08
- Arpeggios 8:25

II. Andante (Ab major, sonatina form, 2/4) 8:38
EXPOSITION
- P theme, phrase A (Ab major) 8:43
- P theme, phrase B 9:34
- T theme - based on P(I) (F minor > Cb major) 10:27
- S theme (Cb major - Eb minor) 11:15
- Retransition, P-based (Ab major) 11:58
RECAPITULATION
- Pa (Ab major) 12:10
- Pb (Db major) 12:56
- T (Bb minor - Ab major) 13:50
- S (Ab major) 14:36
- Retransition (Ab major) 15:18
CODA
- Pa, varied 15:27
- Pb, varied 15:57
- Cadence (P-based) 16:39

III. Allegro vivace (Eb major, ternary form, 3/4) 17:17
Menuetto.
- Strain 1, repeated 17:21
- Strain 2, repeated 17:47
Trio.
- Strain 1, repeated 18:59
- Strain 2, repeated 19:16
Menuetto D.C.
- 1 20:13
- 2 20:26

IV. Allegro (C minor - major, sonata form, cut time) 21:06
EXPOSITION
- Introduction 21:09
- P1 theme (C minor) 21:13
- P2 theme (Eb major) 21:36
- T (C minor - Ab major) 22:02
- S theme (Ab major) 22:20
- C theme, P2-based (Eb major) 22:58
- HE (Cb major > Eb major) 23:11
- Cadential material 23:50
DEVELOPMENT
- Part 1 (cadence-based) 23:55
- Part 2 (P2-based, following HE.I template) 24:20
- Part 3 (P1-based) 24:41
- Part 4 (P2-based) 24:57
- Part 5 (C-based) 25:08
- Retransition 25:18
RECAPITULATION
- P1 (C major - A minor) 25:21
- P2 (C major) 25:45
- T (A minor - F major) 26:09
- S (F major) 26:30
- C (C major) 27:07
- HE (Ab major > C major) 27:20
- Cadence (C major) 28:00

[gregoryroscow]

The Allegro of the Menuetto & Trio is anything but Vivace... somewhat elephantine. I enjoyed the rest of this rendition, especially the final movement.

[mozzy]

I find the allegro directed as it’d be a wagnerian score: interesting operation, but a bit extreme in my opinion

[GlaceonStudios]

In the tempo of that first movement it kind of sounds like Kraus' C minor symphony; I wonder if he knew of that symphony at all.

[miguelsuarez]

I love the tempo. I can't stand conductors that think they are driving a steam loco going "loco"

[IAmDylanPowers]

25:21 Change to C Major. This is the best part of the movement.

[danielche]

2:53 Allegro of first movement, inspired by beethoven's string quartet Op. 18 No. 4
21:06 last movement
25:20

[erika]

A lot of interesting dissonances and key changes in the final movement.

[aidankwek]

Any connection of the theme of the slow introduction to the first movement with the theme of the slow movement of Schumann’s Second? They sound pretty similar to me.

[DonnaLee-gq]

Young Brenda Williams Larry Hall Daniel