Composed in just over a month in November 1850, Schumann’s Third Symphony dates from the beginning of his tenure as municipal music director in Düsseldorf, a town situated on the famously scenic Rhine River.
The nickname “Rhenish”—having to do with the Rhine and its surroundings—quickly attached itself to the work. Although this moniker did not derive from the composer himself, Schumann wryly noted that the symphony “perhaps reflects something of Rhenish life here and there.”
Indeed, Schumann remarked of the symphony that “I wished popular elements to prevail here, and think I have succeeded.” Clara, too, noted that “on the whole, the symphony, and especially the second and third movements, is easily accessible to laymen.”
Listen now and enjoy the Symphony #3 by Schumann:
