Symphony No.4 in C minor, D.417

Whatever Schubert might have meant by the “Tragic” title he attached to his Fourth Symphony - as an afterthought, apparently - it is not unreasonable to assume that he wanted the work to be taken seriously. Having written three delightful symphonies in major keys, at the age of 19 he set out to demonstrate in the challenging key of C minor that he too could construct a large-scale work with something like the dramatic continuity of, say, Beethoven’s Fifth.

He did not, of course, take Beethoven’s Symphony in C minor as a model. That much is clear from the presence of a slow introduction, the harmonic interest of which derives from Schubert’s own precocious individuality in that area. The urgent first theme of the Allegro vivace - anticipated at the end of the introduction - does, in fact, derive from Beethoven, from the beginning of the String Quartet in C minor, Op.18, No.4. The use he makes of that theme, however, is quite different. Its adventures in distant tonalities in the development are remarkable enough but its most dramatic function is to begin the recapitulation in the dominant and so, by withholding the tonic, makes the most surprising effect of a brilliantly scored coda in C major.

The two middle movement are based on the contrast between major-key lyricism and minor-key drama. The lovely A flat major melody introduced at the beginning of the Andante by the strings with an oboe counterpoint appears three times, alternating with episodes in F minor and B flat minor on a troubled variant of the first subject of the first movement. In the Menuetto there are gruff and awkwardly energetic outer sections in C minor and a gracefully melodious trio section in E flat major in the middle.

After the broad hint given by the C major coda of the first movement, it is unlikely that this “Tragic” symphony will end in the minor. Indeed, the main theme, though its first appears in the tonic minor, assumes a happy dancing lilt at an early stage. The A flat major second subject is playfully shared, phrase by phrase, between strings and woodwind. When, in the course of the development, the main theme dances into A major and then D flat major, there can be little doubt as to how the symphony will end. So this time, the recapitulation begins in C major and a coda confirms the happy ending.