Overture, Scherzo and Finale, Op.52

Having completed an overture, a scherzo and a finale all, basically, in E major, why did Schumann not add an Adagio in some relevant key such as C sharp minor, parcel them together and present them as a symphony? The fact is that, although the three pieces were originally intended to be part of what would have been his Symphony No.2 in E major, the slow movement did not materialize. Reconciling himself to the fact that it never would, Schumann thought of calling the work “Symphoniette” but, when it was first performed in Leipzig in 1841, settled for “Overture, Scherzo and Finale” instead.

The reason why the Overture, Scherzo and Finale could not become a symphony, or even a sinfonietta, is to be found in the first piece, which really is an overture rather than the first movement of a symphony. The transformation of the material of the slow introduction in the second subject of the Allegro is not unsymphonic, it is true. But the comparative proportions of the short, dramatically articulated development and the long più animato coda would be out of place in the first movement of a romantic symphony.

The Scherzo, which recalls the opening theme of the work in the two Trio sections, would be no less effective in a symphony than it is here. The Finale, on the other hand, relates to the Overture and Scherzo only by virtue of its tonality and its structural scale. So vigorous in the introduction of its main theme in fugal form and so impressive in its broad augmentation of that theme at the end, it is no more than the unambiguous celebration which, after its thorough revision in 1845, Schumann surely intended it to be.

Gerald Larner©