Symphony No.6 in C major D.589

Schubert’s Symphony No.6 is sometimes known as the “Little” C major to distinguish it from Symphony No.9, the “Great” C major. But it is not so very little in terms of duration and, while it is clearly nowhere near as mature a Symphony in C as the one he was to complete ten years later, it is just as clearly by the same composer. The main reason for its all too frequent belittlement is that when he wrote it - between October 1817 and February 1818, when he also wrote the two overtures “in the Italian style“ - Schubert was going through a Rossini phase. In fact, the whole of Vienna was going through a Rossini phase. So it is scarcely surprising that a young composer struggling for recognition should be tempted to imitate the melodic style of the most successful of his contemporaries. Besides, it didn’t stop him writing an ambitious and in many ways impressive symphony.

The extent of Schubert’s ambition can be assessed by the stature of the Adagio introduction, its emphatic forzando chords and its early turn to the minor. It is true that the first subject introduced by flutes and oboes at the beginning of the Allegro seems a light-weight in comparison but one can scarcely blame Rossini for that: there is a similar event at the equivalent point in Haydn’s “Military” Symphony (No.100 in G). If the other main themes of the Allegro have a buffo quality about them their development does not, and the quicker coda is no less dramatic than the slow introduction.

The gently playful melody of the first section of the Andante would not, it is true, be out of place in a Rossini comedy but the next main section with its persistent triplet figuration could have been written only by the future composer of the “Great” C major. The integration of the triplet figuration with the reprise of the main theme is another characteristic inspiration.

As for the Presto Scherzo, Schubert certainly wasn’t thinking of Rossini here: his models were the third movements of Beethoven’s First and (in the Più lento middle section) Seventh Symphonies. Again there are anticipations of the “Great” C major, not least in the scale of the movement. So there are in the Allegro moderato finale - in the most lyrical of its themes, introduced in a surprising A mjor by flutes and oboes, and in the frequent use of rhythmic ostinati to sustain an extended construction. The sustained fifth on the horns just before the recapitulation of the main theme is not so much post-Rossini, moreover, as pre-Bruckner.

Gerald Larner©

Schubert’s Symphony No.6 is sometimes known as the “Little” C major to distinguish it from Symphony No.9, the “Great” C major. But it is not so very little in terms of duration and, while it is clearly nowhere near as mature a Symphony in C as the one he was to complete ten years later, it is just as clearly by the same composer. One reason for its all too frequent belittlement could be that the echoes of Rossini, which are to be found here as well as in the two overtures “In the Italian style,” disqualify it from acceptance as a serious Viennese symphony. But that would be a both stuffy and one-sided judgement of the situation: the Rossini influence is nowhere near so extensive that it obscures the Viennese classical background of the work.

We do not know how much of the Symphony in C major Schubert had written in October 1817 before he put it on side to pursue his interest in Rossini in the two overtures but, assuming that he began at the beginning, it could have been the whole or most of the first movement. The slow introduction is a regular feature not only of the Rossini overture, of course, but also of the classical Viennese symphony. Bearing in mind the symphonic breadth and searching modulations of Schubert’s Adagio here, the model was surely Haydn rather than Rossini. It is true that the first subject introduced by flutes and oboes at the beginning of the Allegro seems light-weight in comparison but one can scarcely blame Rossini for that: there is a similar event at the equivalent point in Haydn’s “Military” Symphony (No.100 in G). If the other main themes of the Allegro have a comic-opera quality about them, the development does not, least of all in harmonies that occasionally call Beethoven to mind and a strategy adventurous enough to lead the ear into a false recapitulation in the wrong key.    The quicker coda anticipates a similar event at the equivalent point in the “Great” C major.

The stylistic evidence suggests that the Andante was written after the Overtures “In the Italian style.” Certainly, the gently playful melody of the opening section would not be out of place in a Rossini opera buffa: you can almost see the Rosina or Cenerentola character who would sing it. But the next main section with its persistent triplet figuration and extravagant dynamic contrasts could have been written only by the future composer of the “Great” C major. The integration of the triplet figuration with the reprise of the main theme is another characteristic inspiration.

As for the ambitiously constructed Scherzo, Schubert certainly wasn’t thinking of Rossini: his models were the third movements of Beethoven’s First and (in the Più lento middle section) Seventh Symphonies. Again there are anticipations of the “Great” C major, not least in the scale of the movement. There are more in the stature of the Allegro moderato finale and in such details as the debonair theme introduced in a surprising A major by flutes and oboes and the frequent use of unembarrassedly repeated rhythmic figures to sustain an extended construction. The sustained fifth on the horns just before the recapitulation of the main theme is not so much post-Rossini, moreover, as pre-Bruckner.