{"id":5892,"date":"2014-06-01T11:53:21","date_gmt":"2014-06-01T11:53:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/?p=5892"},"modified":"2019-04-16T10:47:50","modified_gmt":"2019-04-16T09:47:50","slug":"explore-the-score-robert-schumann-symphony-no-1-in-b-flat-major-spring","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/2014\/06\/01\/explore-the-score-robert-schumann-symphony-no-1-in-b-flat-major-spring\/","title":{"rendered":"Explore the Score- Robert Schumann, Symphony no. 1 in B-flat Major, &#8220;Spring"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><em>\u2018When his time to reach for the stars had arrived, Schumann\u2019s personal language was fully formed, and just as the subtlety of his piano style had been an immense asset for the songwriter, so the expressiveness of his vocal melody was a bridge to the \u2018voices of men and angels\u2019 he imagined he heard in the orchestra.\u2019<br \/>\n<\/em><\/strong>Hans G\u00e1l: <em>Schumann: Orchestral Music<\/em><\/p>\n<div class=\"woocommerce \"><ul class=\"products columns-4\">\n<li class=\"product type-product post-6298 status-publish first instock product_cat-cds product_tag-bobby-and-hans has-post-thumbnail shipping-taxable purchasable product-type-simple\">\n\t<a href=\"https:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/product\/hans-gal-and-robert-schumann-first-symphonies\/\" class=\"woocommerce-LoopProduct-link woocommerce-loop-product__link\"><span class=\"et_shop_image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" src=\"https:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/AV2233.jpg\" class=\"attachment-woocommerce_thumbnail size-woocommerce_thumbnail\" alt=\"Hans G\u00e1l and Robert Schumann- First Symphonies\" srcset=\"https:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/AV2233.jpg 960w, https:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/AV2233-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/AV2233-300x300.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><span class=\"et_overlay\"><\/span><\/span><h2 class=\"woocommerce-loop-product__title\">Hans G\u00e1l and Robert Schumann- First Symphonies<\/h2>\n\t<span class=\"price\"><span class=\"woocommerce-Price-amount amount\"><bdi><span class=\"woocommerce-Price-currencySymbol\">&pound;<\/span>12.00<\/bdi><\/span><\/span>\n<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Robert Schumann wrote his First Symphony in an astonishing burst of creative energy over four days in January 1841, the focal point of a process of learning, planning and revision that stretched over a decade and more.<\/p>\n<p>Schumann articulated his symphonic ambitions as early as 1829 to his teacher, future father-in-law and nemesis, Friedrich Wieck in 1829. \u2018If you only knew how I feel driven and spurred on, how my symphonies could already have reached opus 100 if only I had written them down, and how comfortable I feel with the orchestra\u2026\u2019 Within three years, he had completed the two movements of the G minor \u2018Zwickau\u2019 Symphony, which were performed in 1832\u20133. Throughout the rest of the 1830s, Schumann wrote only for the piano, but from 1933, he was studying scores of the Beethoven symphonies and pursuing studies in score reading and orchestration. His eventual marriage in 1840 to Wieck\u2019s daughter Clara, against Friedrich\u2019s strenuous objections, became the catalyst for a change of direction: this \u2018year of song\u2019 included the composition of 168 lieder and shaped Schumann\u2019s music for the remainder of his career, throughout which the singing line would always remain paramount.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_4352\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"http:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/Robert_Schumann_1839.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4352\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-4352\" src=\"http:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/Robert_Schumann_1839-300x191.jpg\" alt=\"Robert Schumann- Composer, writer, ladies man, hard drinker and inventor of &quot;Klangfarbenmelodie&quot;\" width=\"300\" height=\"191\" srcset=\"https:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/Robert_Schumann_1839-300x191.jpg 300w, https:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/Robert_Schumann_1839-468x300.jpg 468w, https:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/Robert_Schumann_1839.jpg 794w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-4352\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Robert Schumann- Composer, writer, ladies man, hard drinker and inventor of &#8220;Klangfarbenmelodie&#8221;<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Crucial to his emergence as a symphonist was Schumann\u2019s chance discovery, on a visit to Vienna in 1838, of the score of Schubert\u2019s \u2018Great\u2019 C Major Symphony: \u2018It opened up to me all the ideals of my life. It is the greatest instrumental work to have been written since Beethoven\u2026. It spurred me on again to attempt a symphony&#8230;\u2019. He duly pressed the symphony on to his friend Mendelssohn (then director of the Gewandhaus in Leipzig), who gave the belated premiere in March 1839.<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>In 1842 Schumann advised the conductor Wilhelm Taubert: \u2018Try to infuse some <em>longing<\/em> for spring into the playing of your orchestra; this is what I felt when I wrote it\u2026\u2019 For Schumann, perennially susceptible to literary inspiration, that longing found voice in a poem by Adolf B\u00f6ttger, and particularly its last stanza:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">O wende, wende deinen Lauf\u2014<br \/>\nIm Thale bl\u00fcht der Fr\u00fchling auf!<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><em>O turn, O turn and change your course\u2014<br \/>\nIn the valley spring blooms forth!<\/em><\/p>\n<p>B\u00f6ttger\u2019s poem unleashed Schumann\u2019s symphonic imagination, and in those famous four days of \u2018symphonic fire\u2026 sleepless nights,\u2019 what he achieved is awe-inspiring. On 26 January he wrote in the Household Book \u2018Hurrah! Symphony completed!\u2019. He orchestrated the symphony in February and made further revisions having gone through the score with Mendelssohn, who conducted the first performance with the Gewandhaus orchestra on 31 March to critical enthusiasm: the <em>Allgemeine Musikaische Zeitung<\/em> praised the \u2018intellectual and technical sureness and skill with which it was conceived and\u2026 tasteful and frequently felicitous and effective orchestration\u2026\u2019<\/p>\n<p>By the time Breitkopf published the full score over ten years later in January 1853, Schumann had made various further revisions, mainly in matters of tempo (there exist four\u00a0sets of metronome markings- see post script) and orchestration, less radical than his work on the D minor Symphony which he had written immediately after the \u2018Spring\u2019 but is now known in its final version as the Fourth. It is remarkable that these two works, both written in 1941 and revised in 1851\u20132, would later, wrongly, become prime pieces of evidence in the case against Schumann\u2019s orchestration in his later years. G\u00e1l felt that the final orchestration of the D minor \u2018is hardly a success, thickening the texture by over-generous doublings\u2026the most drastic illustration of Schumann\u2019s problematic experience as a conductor.\u2019 On the other hand, the \u2018Spring\u2019 Symphony, the orchestration of which reached its final form only <em>after<\/em> the D minor (see post script below), is hailed by G\u00e1l as \u2018the most fortunate of Schumann\u2019s symphonies in the first impression it makes\u2026the most successful use of orchestral colour that Schumann ever succeeded in obtaining.\u2019 G\u00e1l would have had few chances to hear either work performed by a group of similar size and cohesion to the 45-member Gewandhaus Orchester of Schumann\u2019s day. Heard in a similar setting (we\u2019ve used an orchestra of near-identical size and layout), the two works reveal a similar mastery of colour and transparency of texture.<\/p>\n<p>http:\/\/youtu.be\/uvc2hlvEDiM?t=1m57s<br \/>\n<em>The musicians of Spira Mirabilis sing the opening of Schumann&#8217;s First Symphony to the text which inspired it.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>The symphony\u2019s opening brass fanfare is an instrumental setting of the last line of Bottger\u2019s poem, from which much of the symphony will develop.<\/p>\n<audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-5892-1\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"http:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Spring-Opening.mp3?_=1\" \/><a href=\"http:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Spring-Opening.mp3\">http:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Spring-Opening.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n<p>B\u00f6ttger\u2019s poem begins not with the joys of spring but with a depiction of winter storm clouds, and so it is for much of the <em>Introduction<\/em>, which contains the most radical music in the symphony.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><em>Du Geist der Wolke, tr\u00fcb und schwer<\/em><br \/>\n<em>Fliegst drohend \u00fcber Land und Meer<\/em><br \/>\n<em>Dein grauer Schleier deckt im Nu<\/em><br \/>\n<em>Des Himmels klares Auge zu,<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">You spirit of the clouds, grey and heavy<br \/>\nLooming over land and sea<br \/>\nYour obscure veil obscures\u00a0in a frozen moment<br \/>\nThe clear eye of heaven<\/p>\n<audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-5892-2\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"http:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Winters-Darkness.mp3?_=2\" \/><a href=\"http:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Winters-Darkness.mp3\">http:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Winters-Darkness.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n<p>This primitive music would later serve as inspiration for Mahler\u2019s own depiction of spring\u2019s awakening in his Third Symphony.<\/p>\n<p>http:\/\/youtu.be\/caApW1QOmTU?t=2m44s<br \/>\n<em>Spring Marches In, with epic directorial choices by someone at Dutch TV<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Music may not often precisely mirror its composer\u2019s state of mind, but surely it is no accident that the <em>Allegro<\/em> of this first movement, possibly Schumann&#8217;s most joyful span of music, comes from the happiest time of his life- settled in a new and happy marriage, in good health and finally writing the symphonic music he had long aspired to. The main theme, which we hear throughout the movement as both melody and ostinato, is basically the opening fanfare sped up:<\/p>\n<audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-5892-3\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"http:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Spring-first-movement.mp3?_=3\" \/><a href=\"http:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Spring-first-movement.mp3\">http:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Spring-first-movement.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n<p>The final third of the movement has a shortened recapitulation and a coda with two notable features- a new tempo and a new theme. \u00a0At the beginning of the coda, Schumann marks &#8220;<em>Animato- poco a poco stringendo<\/em>.&#8221; \u00a0Literally- &#8220;animated, and little-by-little getting faster.&#8221; But how long to increase the speed for, and to what final speed?<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_5914\" style=\"width: 594px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"http:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Schumann-Spring-The-meno-mosso-that-isnt.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-5914\" class=\"size-large wp-image-5914\" src=\"http:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Schumann-Spring-The-meno-mosso-that-isnt-728x1024.jpg\" alt=\"The meno mosso that isn't really there\" width=\"584\" height=\"821\" srcset=\"https:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Schumann-Spring-The-meno-mosso-that-isnt-728x1024.jpg 728w, https:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Schumann-Spring-The-meno-mosso-that-isnt-213x300.jpg 213w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 584px) 100vw, 584px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-5914\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The meno mosso that isn&#8217;t really there<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Then there is the new theme. One of Schumann&#8217;s signature touches as a composer is his habit of introducing a new theme right before the end of a movement or even a piece- a sort of &#8220;breakthrough&#8221; or &#8220;apotheosis&#8221; theme. In the case of the the Spring Symphony, the breakthrough theme (one of his most stunning) is almost always played slower than not only the <em>Animato<\/em> tempo, but slower than the whole rest of the <em>Allegro<\/em>. It&#8217;s such a well-established tradition that I was more-than-a-little surprised when I first saw a score that no such tempo change was marked. Over the years, my skepticism about this unmarked tempo change grew and grew, although Schumann is not a composer who offers much safety in the simplistic world of pure literalism. As with good cooking, you should understand and follow the recipe given, but must taste what you&#8217;re making as you go. Similar breakthrough themes in other Schumann pieces generally <em><strong>don&#8217;t<\/strong><\/em> get slowed down, and in this case, the prevailing rhythm already shifts from eighth notes to quarter notes. On the other hand, plenty of great conductors (nearly all) and orchestras do the traditional slow down, and find their own paths to a final (faster) tempo for the movement. In fact I don&#8217;t think I ever heard a performance <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">without<\/span> the <em>meno mosso<\/em> until we recorded the piece (although I&#8217;m sure we&#8217;re not the first ones to omit it- I&#8217;ve only heard a small number of the many dozens of recordings of the piece).<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"SCHUMANN, SYMPHONY NO 1, 1ST MOV, SAWALLISCH\" width=\"1080\" height=\"608\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/X_FE-ndpDBQ?start=546&#038;feature=oembed\"  allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><br \/>\n<em>Sawalisch, whose Dresden set is the classic large-orchestra Schumann cycle, slows very little, but is generally in a much slower tempo overall.<\/em><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_5916\" style=\"width: 594px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"http:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Schumann-Spring-Flute-Solo.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-5916\" class=\"size-large wp-image-5916\" src=\"http:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Schumann-Spring-Flute-Solo-740x1024.jpg\" alt=\"The flute accelerando or ritardando that needn't be?\" width=\"584\" height=\"808\" srcset=\"https:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Schumann-Spring-Flute-Solo-740x1024.jpg 740w, https:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Schumann-Spring-Flute-Solo-216x300.jpg 216w, https:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Schumann-Spring-Flute-Solo.jpg 1916w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 584px) 100vw, 584px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-5916\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The flute accelerando or ritardando that needn&#8217;t be?<\/p><\/div>\n<p>http:\/\/youtu.be\/eFFq2F0ldW0?t=8m39s<br \/>\n<em>Maestro Nezet-Seguin takes a little rit into the breakthough theme, slows down just before the end of the section, then has the solo flute lead a little accel into the final restatement of the fanfare<\/em><\/p>\n<p>http:\/\/youtu.be\/EkSVTJ598uQ?t=8m47s<br \/>\n<em>Maestro Zinman does comparatively little Animato, and makes less of a gear change at the breakthrough theme, but does quite a big rit before the final fanfare, which is in the tempo of the main movement rather than in an Animato tempo<\/em><\/p>\n<p>http:\/\/youtu.be\/VFvNriIDLrs?t=8m58s<br \/>\n<em>Maestro Leonard Bernstein does a fairly extreme tempo buildup over the Animato, and huge rit to the breakthrough theme, which is less than half the speed of the rest of the movement, before a second rit leading into the clarinet tag and a third rit in the solo flute bars. The return of the fanfare is a tempo, and he drives through to the end<\/em><\/p>\n<p>http:\/\/youtu.be\/uvc2hlvEDiM?t=17m14s<br \/>\n<em>The conductor-less orchestra, Spira Mirabilis, do quite a zippy accel in the first 20 or so bars of the Animato, before putting the breaks on pretty hard at the breakthrough theme, with a rit from the last few bars of the clarinet tag and the flute solo before a final a tempo, which lands somewhere between the main tempo of the movement and the highpoint of the Animato tempo<\/em><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Robert Schumann: Symphony No.1 in B flat majot Op.38 &quot;Spring&quot; I.Andante-Allegro PART II.\" width=\"1080\" height=\"810\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/CzbCtBsECZE?start=216&#038;feature=oembed\"  allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><br \/>\n<em>Maestro Paavo Jarvi with the Israel Phil- starts more or less in the Animato tempo, but slows down quite a bit as it goes on<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_5915\" style=\"width: 594px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"http:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Schumann-Spring-The-a-tempo-that-isnt.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-5915\" class=\"size-large wp-image-5915\" src=\"http:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Schumann-Spring-The-a-tempo-that-isnt-789x1024.jpg\" alt=\"The a tempo that isn't there\" width=\"584\" height=\"757\" srcset=\"https:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Schumann-Spring-The-a-tempo-that-isnt-789x1024.jpg 789w, https:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Schumann-Spring-The-a-tempo-that-isnt-231x300.jpg 231w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 584px) 100vw, 584px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-5915\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The a tempo that isn&#8217;t there<\/p><\/div>\n<p>In the end, I chose to read the &#8220;<em>Animato: poco poco stringendo<\/em>&#8221; as a gradual increase in tempo, and went to some trouble to try to make that increase carry on until the breakthrough theme. That, to me, marks the end of the accel. At that point, I also switch from conducting &#8220;in two&#8221; to &#8220;in one.&#8221; It&#8217;s important to note (confess) that although I&#8217;m not inserting two or three extra tempo changes in this reading, I&#8217;m also not being strictly literal, either. A totally literal reading would accel gradually to the end of the movement (as if he&#8217;d written <em>Animando sempre al fine<\/em>). In the end, however, I feel like this was the the reading that most seemed to suit the music for us. The change of pulse from&#8221; in two&#8221; to&#8221;in one&#8221; creates a sense of space and even ecstasy for the breakthrough theme without creating the problem of find one&#8217;s way back to the fast temp for the end (which we do &#8220;in two&#8221;.<\/p>\n<audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-5892-4\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"http:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Spring-Coda.mp3?_=4\" \/><a href=\"http:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Spring-Coda.mp3\">http:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Spring-Coda.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n<p>_____________________________________________________________________<\/p>\n<p>The lyrical <em>Larghetto<\/em>, which Schumann left almost untouched during the process of revision, is the offspring of his \u2018year of song.\u2019 It&#8217;s the only movement in the Symphony for which Schumann never adjusted or amended his metronome marking of quaver=66<\/p>\n<audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-5892-5\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"http:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Spring-year-of-song.mp3?_=5\" \/><a href=\"http:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Spring-year-of-song.mp3\">http:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Spring-year-of-song.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n<p>On the final page of the<em> Larghetto<\/em>, the trombones, who have not played since the first movement, enter<em> pianissimo<\/em> with an eerie foreshadowing of the theme of the upcoming Scherzo. Moments like this and the famous (insanely high and exposed) chorale at the beginning of the fourth movement of his E-flat Major Symphony (often referred to wrongly as the Rhenish) would seem to indicate the Schumann had at is disposal a trombone section with nerves and chops of steel. Luckily, we had a similarly gifted team in Stratford for these sessions.<\/p>\n<audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-5892-6\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"http:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Spring-eerie-forshadowing.mp3?_=6\" \/><a href=\"http:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Spring-eerie-forshadowing.mp3\">http:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Spring-eerie-forshadowing.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n<p>_______________________________________________________________________<\/p>\n<p>The Scherzo returns to the wilder world of D minor hinted at in the symphony\u2019s Introduction.<\/p>\n<audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-5892-7\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"http:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Spring-Scherzo.mp3?_=7\" \/><a href=\"http:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Spring-Scherzo.mp3\">http:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Spring-Scherzo.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n<p>The first of two witty trios is in duple meter-<\/p>\n<audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-5892-8\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"http:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Spring-Duple.mp3?_=8\" \/><a href=\"http:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Spring-Duple.mp3\">http:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Spring-Duple.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n<p>Schumann omitted a metronome mark for the second trio, which poses a conundrum for the conductor: played at the same, brisk speed as the first trio, it creates a rather Mendelssohnian effect. Mendelssohn worked closely with Schumann on the Spring and conducted the premier. To me, the relatively slow harmonic rhythm and symmetrical phrase structure argue strongly for that approach. Here&#8217;s how we did it on the CD:<\/p>\n<audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-5892-9\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"http:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Spring-2nd-Trio.mp3?_=9\" \/><a href=\"http:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Spring-2nd-Trio.mp3\">http:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Spring-2nd-Trio.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n<p>At the tempo of the main Scherzo, it can sound more rustic.<\/p>\n<p>http:\/\/youtu.be\/EkSVTJ598uQ?t=20m18s<br \/>\n<em style=\"font-style: italic;\">Maestro David Zinman takes the slower of two possible tempi in the third movement of Schumann&#8217;s Spring Symphony<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Having begun in such a furious mood, the Scherzo ends with a a whimsical look back at the music of the first trio: a flirtatious flitter of syncopations, crowned with a musical kiss.<\/p>\n<audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-5892-10\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"http:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Spring-flirt.mp3?_=10\" \/><a href=\"http:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Spring-flirt.mp3\">http:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Spring-flirt.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n<p>_____________________________________________________________________<\/p>\n<p>Schumann told later told Wilhelm Taubert that \u2018About the last movement, I can tell you that I envisage spring\u2019s farewell and hope that it is not taken too lightly.\u2019 Certainly, nobody would be tempted to take the opening gesture too lightly- it storms in on the music which ends the Scherzo like an angry father catching his daughter getting into mischief with her boyfriend. Or maybe it&#8217;s just a triumphalist fanfare? You decide:<\/p>\n<audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-5892-11\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"http:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Spring-finale-opening.mp3?_=11\" \/><a href=\"http:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Spring-finale-opening.mp3\">http:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Spring-finale-opening.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n<p>The main theme of the Finale is a quirky and virtuosic scamper:<\/p>\n<audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-5892-12\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"http:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Spring-scamper.mp3?_=12\" \/><a href=\"http:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Spring-scamper.mp3\">http:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Spring-scamper.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>While the second theme is based on that opening gesture (fanfare or tirade, you decide).<\/p>\n<audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-5892-13\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"http:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Spring-Kreisleriana.mp3?_=13\" \/><a href=\"http:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Spring-Kreisleriana.mp3\">http:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Spring-Kreisleriana.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n<p>It&#8217;s also a quote from the final section of Schumann&#8217;s earlier piano piece, Kreisleriana:<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Robert Schumann - Kreisleriana opus 16 - Vladimir Horowitz\" width=\"1080\" height=\"810\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/IYDHDKS9deg?start=1558&#038;feature=oembed\"  allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Schumann sets himself a serious challenge with this Finale- how is one to surpass the thrilling energy of the end of the first movement so that the end of the symphony doesn&#8217;t feel like an anti-climax? Schumann&#8217;s solution is both simple and inspired- repeat the same formula, a Coda section built around a long accelerando, but up the stakes even further. It takes huge concentration and commitment to mange this long buildup without running out of gas. The version you hear at the end of the CD is taken whole from the concert which marked not only the end of the sessions not only for this disc, but for the entire four-year Bobby and Hans project How funny that we finished the cycle with the movement Schumann called &#8220;Spring&#8217;s Farewell.&#8221; It documents a very special and poignant moment in our shared journey as colleagues. If you want to hear the final few bars, please buy the CD.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-5892-14\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"http:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Springs-Farewell.mp3?_=14\" \/><a href=\"http:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Springs-Farewell.mp3\">http:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Springs-Farewell.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n<p>C Kenneth Woods, 2014<\/p>\n<p>________________________________________________________________<\/p>\n<p>An additional note on the revisions of these first two Schumann Symphonies might be of interest. I find it baffling that the revision of the Spring (done after that of the D minor) is almost completely unknown, but they revision of the D minor remains so controversial among those who don&#8217;t understand Schumann&#8217;s music or orchestration. It has been fashionable for some years to perform the original 1841 version of the D minor in spite of Schumann&#8217;s clear preference for the original. There have been attempts to recreate the original version of the Spring using the parts made for the premier (which still exist), but it&#8217;s never caught on. I detect a double standard! The revision is also the source of the expansion of the timpani part and Schumann&#8217;s introduction of a third drum.<\/p>\n<p>With thanks to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.last.fm\/music\/Allan+Stephenson\">Allan Stephenson<\/a>, here is a listing of all the existing metronome markings for Schumann&#8217;s Spring Symphony which we can attribute to the composer:<\/p>\n<p>The Piano duet (1842):<br \/>\nI. Andante crotchet =76 Allegro crotchet =152<br \/>\nII. Larghetto\u00a0quaver=-66<br \/>\nIII.\u00a0\u00a0 Molto vivace dotted mimin =138\u00a0 Trio 1 minim =144 and no marking forTrio II<br \/>\n(N.B. the scherzo 138 is way too fast but as is usual with RS&#8217;s writing could be 108)<br \/>\nIV. Allegro animato e grazioso minim =116<\/p>\n<p>The manuscript full score in the British Museum:<br \/>\nI. Andante crotchet = 76, Allegro crotchet =152,<br \/>\nII. Larghetto quaver= 66,<br \/>\nIII. Molto vivace dotted minim=138 Trio I Minim=144, Trio II none<br \/>\nIV. Allegro animato e grazioso minim= 116.<\/p>\n<p>The manus. full score\u00a0in the Archive der Musikfreunde, Vienna has<br \/>\nI. Andante crotchet =76, Allegro crotchet =132,<br \/>\nII. Larghetto \u00a0quaver= 66<br \/>\nIII. Molto vivace dotted minim= 138, Trio 1= 144, Trio 2= none<br \/>\nIV. Allegro animato e grazioso minim=116<\/p>\n<p>The full score of 1853 has<br \/>\nMvt I Andante crotchet = 66, Allegro molto vivace crotchet=120<br \/>\nMvt II Larghetto crotchet= 66<br \/>\nMvt III Molto vivace dotted minim=88,Trio 1, minim=108, Trio= none<br \/>\nMvt IV Allegro animato e grazioso minim= 100<\/p>\n<div id=\"wp_fb_like_button\" style=\"margin:5px 0;float:none;height:100px;\"><script src=\"http:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/all.js#xfbml=1\"><\/script><fb:like href=\"https:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/2014\/06\/01\/explore-the-score-robert-schumann-symphony-no-1-in-b-flat-major-spring\/\" send=\"false\" layout=\"box_count\" width=\"450\" show_faces=\"true\" font=\"arial\" action=\"like\" colorscheme=\"light\"><\/fb:like><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u2018When his time to reach for the stars had arrived, Schumann\u2019s personal language was fully formed, and just as the subtlety of his piano style had been an immense asset for the songwriter, so the expressiveness of his vocal melody was a bridge to the \u2018voices of men and angels\u2019 he imagined he heard in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5637,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1,483,5,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5892","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music-opion-life-as-a-performing-musician","category-bobby-and-hans","category-explore-the-score","category-masterclass"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5892","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5892"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5892\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8449,"href":"https:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5892\/revisions\/8449"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5637"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5892"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5892"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5892"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}