Horns quietly breathe life into the opening Andante of this symphony with a haunting, irregularly shaped melody which is taken up by the woodwinds as a plaything for gentle, lyrical purposes and then for dramatic fortissimo statements by the strings.
A second theme begins to emerge now—an ascending, dotted-rhythm scale which, together with the opening horn call, will figure throughout much of the symphony, in one form or another, acting as motivic glue for the work as a whole. A delightful woodwind passage follows, shielding us momentarily from the public gaze of the grand symphony and dipping briefly into Schubert’s private world of song composition, before a brief orchestral frenzy brings us back to the work’s opening of C major and into the main Allegro.
Even as Schubert reaches the closing section of the movement, the coda, his protean invention is barely contained by the necessary formal constraints. The movement then closes triumphantly in a blazing statement of the opening horn theme.
The second movement, Andante con moto, opens with a steady string accompaniment to a sweetly plaintive melody on the oboe, which has a folk-like character in its simplicity. This theme is varied with the addition of a clarinet whereupon the oboe returns before the orchestra begins to agitate, at points verging upon anger. After further treatment of the major themes the movement ends with a return to the opening oboe theme.
The lively Scherzo begins with forceful strings in unison, complemented by frolicking horns and oboes. This amusingly boisterous opening, which pervades the whole movement, is counteracted by charming waltz-like themes that pop up from time to time—the first of these acting as a secondary theme. The Trio section is given its cue by horns, clarinets and trombones which lead into a broadly conceived melody in the woodwind with string accompaniment.
The Allegro vivace finale is not only Schubert’s most impressive single orchestral achievement, but one of the major landmarks of the whole symphonic repertoire. This is a movement of tremendous power and utterly remarkable for Schubert’s endlessly inventive nature being met with a masterful control of his material and resources.
Here is Herbert Blomstedt to lead Schubert’s masterpiece:
