Symphony No.4 in D minor, Op.120

Ziemlich langsam (fairly slow) - lebhaft (lively) -

Romanze: ziemlich langsam (fairly slow) -

Scherzo: lebhaft (lively) -

Langsam (slow) - lebhaft (lively)

The Symphony No.4 in D minor was conceived in the same overwhelming surge of enthusiasm for the orchestra that also produced the Symphony No.l in B flat, the Overture, Scherzo and Finale and the Fantasy in A minor that was later to become the first movement of the Piano Concerto - all of them written within eight months up to October 1841. Unfortunately, having secured the first performance of the Symphony in D minor in Leipzig towards the end of the year, Schumann could not find a publisher for it. Perhaps his rethinking of symphonic form, linking the four movements by recurring themes and presenting the whole structure as an unbroken continuity, was just too radical. Anyway, he put the score on one side and got on with other things, including the Symphony in C major in 1846 and the Rhenish in 1850. He returned to it only ten years later, when he subjected it to a thorough revision in preparation for performance at one of his own concerts in Düsseldorf in 1852. It was published as Symphony No.4 in 1853.

Although the structural alterations of the 1851 revision are generally regarded as improvements, the rescoring Schumann also carried out at that time has been a cause for regret - not least by Brahms who, after the composer’s death and against Clara Schumann’s wishes, arranged for the publication of the original orchestration, which he regarded as “bright and spontaneous, expressed with corresponding ease and grace.” While Brahms was not entirely wrong about that, Clara had every right to complain. It was, after all, “her” symphony. It was written originally as a surprise present for her 22nd birthday in 1841 and she is, in a literal sense, its main theme.

The undulating motif heard on bassoons and second violins and violas at the beginning of the slow introduction is one identified with Clara in several of Schumann’s work. All the melodic material of the rest of the symphony is associated with it in one way or another. The derivation of the first and only theme presented in the first section of the Lebhaft first movement has already been made clear in the accelerated transition to the quicker tempo. Of the new ideas that emerge, unconventionally, in the middle of the movement, the vigorous woodwind theme is derived from the mysterious trombone calls that precede it, together with a variant of the Clara motif, and the lyrical inspiration on first violins includes the same motif within it.

Since it is an essential part of Schumann’s structural strategy to leave the first movement open-ended, he interrupts its course with a Romance and a Scherzo and delays its completion until the Lebhaft Finale. The Romance is obviously a serenade from Robert to Clara, the lovely song of the oboe being sweetly and tenderly answered by solo violin and strings with a variant of the Clara motif. Much the same variant is presented in the two trio sections as the lyrical contrast to the turbulent theme of the Scherzo, which is itself another variant of the Clara motif.

The reason why Schumann, so unconventionally, introduced new themes in the middle section of the first movement becomes clear in the last. A slow introduction, masterfully devised to link with the second trio of the previous movement, recalls the opening of the work. Then, when the vigorous woodwind theme from the first movement is presented as the main theme of the Lebhaft finale, the unfinished argument of the first movement is vividly revived. This time there is contrasting melodic material: approached by a passionate transition theme, it is a delightful variant of the Clara motif for flutes, oboes, and first violins. So the only loose end remaining is the other inspiration from the middle of the first movement, and that is firmly tied into the coda before the two accelerations towards the end.

Gerald Larner©

schumann: symphony No.2

Robert Schumann (1810-1856)

Symphony No.4 in D minor, Op.120

Ziemlich langsam - lebhaft -

Romanze: ziemlich langsam -

Scherzo: lebhaft -

Langsam - lebhaft

Schumann’s Symphony in D minor was presented by Schumann to his wife as a special surprise on her 22nd birthday, 13 September 1841. It cannot have been a complete surprise to Clara, however: she had already noted in May that Robert had begun another symphony “which is to be in one movement, but with an Adagio and a Finale. As yet I have heard nothing of it but from seeing Robert bustling about and hearing the chord of D minor sound wildly in the distance I know in advance that another work is being wrought in the depths of his soul. Heaven is kindly disposed towards us - Robert cannot be happier in the composition than I am when he shows me such a work.”

Unfortunately, heaven was not too kindly disposed towards the first performance, at a Leipzig Gewandhaus concert in December of the same year. It was badly played and the presence of Liszt in the same concert robbed Schumann of much of the glory he might have expected on such an occasion. Disappointed, he put the work aside and returned to it only ten years later when he submitted it to a thorough revision. The new version was first performed under the composer’s direction in Düsseldorf in 1852 and published in 1853 as Symphony No.4 in D minor (the C major Symphony having been completed in 1846 and the Rhenish in 1850). Although the structural alterations of the 1851 revision are generally regarded as improvements, the rescoring has been a cause for regret - not least by Brahms who, against Clara’s wishes, arranged for the publication of the 1841 version, which he regarded as “bright and spontaneous, expressed with corresponding ease and grace.”

With or without the doublings and thickened textures of 1851, the D minor remains Clara’s symphony, her birthday present. The undulating motif heard on bassoons and second violins and violas at the beginning of the slow introduction is one identified with her in several of Schumann’s work, and all the melodic material of the rest of the symphony is associated with it in one way or another. The derivation of the first and only subject presented in the exposition of the Lebhaft has already been made clear in the accelerated transition to the quicker tempo. Of the new ideas which emerge in the development (unsymphonically, they say), the vigorouos woodwind theme is derived from the mysterious trombone calls which preceded it, together with an inversion of the Clara motif, and the delightful lyrical inspiration of the first violins includes the same motif within it.

Since it is Schumann’s intention not to round off this first movement but to leave it open-ended, he offers no recapitulation. Instead he interrupts its course with a Romanze and a Scherzo before he completes it in the Lebhaft Finale. The Romanze is obviously a serenade from Robert to Clara, the lovely A minor songs of the oboe being sweetly and tenderly answered in D major by solo violin and strings with a variant of the Clara motif. Much the same variant (but in B flat major) is presented in the two trio sections as the lyrical contrast to the turbulent D minor theme of the Scherzo itself an inversion of the Clara motif.

The reason why Schumann, apparently so unsymphonically, introduced new themes in the development of the first movement becomes clear in the last. A slow introduction, masterfully devised to link with the second trio of the previous movement, recalls the opening of the work. Then, when the vigorous woodwind theme from the development is presented as the main theme of the Lebhaft Finale the unfinished argument of the first movement is vividly revived. This time there is a second subject: approached by a passionate transition theme, it is a delightful variant of the Clara motif for flutes, oboes, and first violins. The development section contrapuntally associates the first subject with a dynamic compression of the Clara motif for the four horns. So the only loose end remaining, after the recapitulation of the second subject, is the other inspiration from the development of the first movement, and that is firmly tied into the coda before the two acceleration towards the end.