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Program Notes

Symphony No. 9, “The Great”

Franz Schubert (1797–1828)

Premiere: March 21, 1839 at the Gewandhaus in Leipzig, Germany

Approximate performance time is 48 minutes

Behind the Music

Toward the close of March in 1824, Franz Schubert was already suffering the ravages of the disease that, in all likelihood, caused his untimely death four years later. Schubert, who was only 27, felt that his illness created an ever-increasing sense of urgency to compose. Schubert informed a friend: “I have tried my hand at several instrumental works, for I wrote two quartets...and an octet, and I want to write another quartet, in fact, I intend to pave my way toward a grand symphony in that manner.” Over the following two years, Schubert composed his Ninth Symphony. However, no public performances of the work took place during the composer’s lifetime. Schubert died in 1828, at the age of 31.

Eleven years later, composer Robert Schumann visited Schubert’s brother, Ferdinand, at his home in Vienna. There, Schumann found the score of the Schubert Ninth. He persuaded Ferdinand Schubert to forward the score to composer Felix Mendelssohn, then the conductor of the Gewandhaus Orchestra in Leipzig. Mendelssohn and the Gewandhaus premiered Schubert’s “The Great” C-Major Symphony in Leipzig on March 21, 1839.

Schubert’s Ninth earned the approval of such musical geniuses as Schumann and the French composer Hector Berlioz, who deemed it “worthy of a place among the loftiest productions of our art.” General acceptance of this magnificent work was quite another matter. In 1844, Mendelssohn attempted to conduct the Symphony with the London Philharmonic, but the musicians burst into laughter during rehearsal. It was not until 1856 that the Schubert Ninth received its first London performance.

In time, Schubert’s Ninth attained its rightful status as one of the finest symphonies of the 19th century. In “The Great,” Schubert offers a masterful synthesis of lyrical beauty (so evident in his extraordinary songs) and symphonic development. The Schubert Ninth is an extraordinary creation by a genius taken all too soon.

While You Listen

  • Symphony No. 9 opens with a slow-tempo introduction (Andante). Horns proclaim the introduction’s central theme that will serve as the basis for much of the material in the ensuing Allegro ma non troppo.
  • The second movement (Andante con moto) is in the character of an epic funeral march.
  • The third movement is a Scherzo (Allegro vivace), a vigorous country dance. A central Trio section offers welcome lyrical repose.
  • On May 7, 1824, Schubert attended the world premiere of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. At approximately four minutes into the Finale (Allegro vivace) of the Schubert Ninth, the winds sing a melody that is a clear descendant of Beethoven’s "Ode to Joy.”

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