The Infinite Variety Of Symphonic Form . Part Two .
After the revolutionary symphonies of Beethoven , the symphony was a form continued to evolve throughout the 19th and 20th centuries . Franz Schubert, Felix Mendelssohn , Robert Schumann, Johannes Brahms et al were strongly influenced by Beethoven but wrote symphonies showing their own unique personal stamp . Franz Schubert (1897-1928 ) , was a younger contemporary of Beethoven and a native of Vienna unlike the German born Beethoven . He is best known for his so-called "Unfinished "symphony which consists only of two completed movements . Why he left only two is a mystery which will probably never be solved . But it is a hauntingly beautiful work on its own terms . Were the last two movement lost ? Did the composer decide he could not write anything matching the first two, or did he simply never get around to finishing it in his tragically short life ? The Unfinished is his 8th symphony , and he completed six before it , with several other unfinished ones which never became well known . The 9th , is the longest and most grandiose of his symphonies , and possibly the greatest work Schubert wrote .
Mendelssohn wrote five symphonies , and Schumann four . Johannes Brahms , four . Mendelssohn's third was inspired by a visit to Scotland , and the fourth , the so-called "Italian ", by a visit to that country . Schumann's first os known as the "Spring " symphony , and attempts , quite successfully , to portray the joyous arrival of that season . The third, called the "Rhenish " , was written when Schumann moved from his native Saxony to the Rhineland . Johannes Brahms (1833 - 1897 ) , was so intimidated by the greatness of Beethoven's symphonies that he did not produce his first until he had passed the age of forty . But his first is a work of elemental power and grandeur . The other three, which are also beloved staples of the repertoire , followed fairly quickly .
As the 19th century progressed , composers began to use larger and larger orchestras , and such instruments as the trombones and now the tuba , which was not invented until some years after the death of Beethoven in 1827 , also entered the orchestra . Four horns became the norm instead of two, which were standard in the 18th century . String sections were enlarged , percussion instruments other than the usual tympani were used more often etc . Some composers , such as Anton Bruckner (1824-1896 ) and Mahler (1860- 1911 ) began to use larger and larger orchestras , now using up to eight horns , four trumpets , etc . The symphonies of Bruckner and Mahler are unusually long, often lasting more than an hour . Bruckner was a devout Austrian Catholic and organist who wrote massive , grandiose symphonies in which the orchestra often sounds like an organ . These are lofty, profound and even mystical works . Bruckner left nine numbered symphonies , two early unnumbered ones including one called the "symphony number zero ! " The finale of the ninth , dedicated to "Almighty God " was left almost finished at the time of his death , and has been traditionally performed with only the first three completed movements,. But in recent years , a number of musicologists have been able to make completions of the finale based n the sketches, and these are occasionally performed and recorded .
His younger contemporary Gustav Mahler wrote nine massive symphonies , with an unfinished tenth which has also been completed based on sketches . Only the first was left complete, and this has often been performed . Mahler uses an even larger orchestra than Bruckner, whom he admired and befriended . Quadruple woodwinds , with piccolo, English horn , bass clarinet ,contrabassoon , six to eight horns, sometimes four or more trumpets , etc , with extra percussion including cowbells ! , as well as on occasion , an organ etc. Talk about the proverbial kitchen sink ! Mahler's symphonies are biographical, and evoke his childhood in Bohemia as the son of Jewish parents , his love of nature , the marching bands he heard in his youth etc . The second is known as the "Resurrection" symphony , and features a chorus and female vocalists in its finale , set to a German poem affirming g that death is not an end . His third , also featuring a huge orchestra , boy's chorus and an alto soloist , is in sic movements and is the longest symphony in the repertoire at an hour and a half ! The massive eighth , nicknamed "symphony of a thousand " for its enormous forces , features a chorus, children's chorus and no fewer than eight vocal soloists , and is in two parts ; a setting of the medieval Latin hymn "Veni, creator spiritus ) (come, creator spirit ) , and a longer second part which is a setting of the end of the famous Goethe play "Faust " in which the philosopher Faust finally enters heaven after having been tempted by the devil, Mephistopheles .
The Czech composer Antonin Dvorak ( 1841-1904 ) wrote nine symphonies , the best known being the so-called "New World " symphony , his last work in this form . He wrote while living in America during the 1890s , and he seeks to evoke the spirit of America , the spirituals of the African Americans , the music of the native Americans etc . But the themes are all Dvorak's own and not borrowed from any American traditional songs . Of the others, only the seventh and eight are played often, but the first six are undeservedly neglected and well worth hearing .
In Russia , PYotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840 - 1893 ) produced six symphonies , but only four, five and six are played often , and they are among the most popular of all symphonies with audiences . The last the so-called "Pathetique ") , was written shortly before Tchaikovsky's untimely and mysterious death from drinking infected water during a cholera epidemic . This is a dark, brooding , often harrowing work which appears to portray the severe depression , which had dogged him for so long . The title does not mean {pathetic " in the derogatory sense of the English word, but is a French word meaning a state of intense emotion .
In the 20th century , numerous great composers wrote important symphonies , and the form of symphony because less cut and dried , and composers experimented with unorthodox structure departing from the textbook symphonies of Haydn and Mozart . The very definition of a symphony became more vague , as composers experimented . Many composers abandoned traditional sonata form, although many still used it, albeit in modified form . Some wrote very long symphonies , and others short ones lasting under 20 minutes . Some wrote symphonies in only one continuous movement . Among the best known 20th century symphonies are those of Finland's Jean Sibelius (7) , Sergei Prokofiev (7) Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975 (15) ,
England's Sir Edward Elgar (2) , nine by his compatriot Ralph Vaughan Williams (9) , America's Charles Ives (4) , Czech Bohuslav Martinu (1890-1959 ) , Swiss Arthur Honegger (5) , Denmark's Carl Nielsen (6) , to name only a handful .
Each of these put his own individual stamp on the form of the symphony . In the early 21st symphony , the symphony is far from a dead art form . For example, the Finnish composer Leif Segerstam (1944 - ) , better known as a world famous conductor , has beaten Haydn in his enormous output of more than 300 ! symphonies . So far , I have only discussed a tiny handful of all the countless symphonies which have been written since the 18th century . There are wonderful symphonies by Cesar Franck , Camille Saint-Saens , George Bizet , Albert Roussel of France , Franck being Belgian but belonging to the French tradition , American composers such as Aaron Copland, Samuel Barber , William Schuman, Roger Sessions, Howard Hanson , Paul Hindemith , Igor Stravinsky , Arnold Bax , Havergal Brian , Arthur Bliss, William Walton , and Michael Tippett of England , and so many others of many different nationalities .
There are countless recordings of who knows how many different symphonies , including ones hardly anyone has ever heard of , and there are many sets of the complete symphonies of composers such as Beethoven, Brahms , Tchaikovsky , Bruckner , Mahler and others in boxed sets by many eminent conductors such as Bernstein, Toscanini, Herbert von Karajan , Bruno Walter, Otto Klemperer , Sir Georg Solti, Claudio Abbado , Sir Colin Davis , Lorin Maazel and others , or you can get individual recordings from these sets and countless others not part of complete sets .
The symphony is an art form of infinite variety , and you can spend your entire life without coming remotely close to learning all there is to know about it . But this is a pursuit which is incredibly rewarding .