The Symphony #1 by Schumann, sketched in a four day burst and completed within a month, originally bore movement titles: “The Beginning of Spring,” “Evening,” “Merry Playmates,” and “Spring in Full Bloom.” The titles were deleted before publication, but are still perfect epigrammatic invitations to this music.
A brass fanfare announces “The Beginning of Spring,” but the brief musical crisis which follows reminds us that Schumann composed this symphony in January and February, the dead of winter. We have to anticipate spring before it fully arrives.
The tenderness of the second movement, “Evening,” leads directly into the seemingly angry Scherzo of “Merry Playmates,” but the mood changes quickly.
In a letter to a friend, Schumann wrote that while the last movement was “Spring in Full Bloom” it was also a farewell to spring, as much marking a departure as a celebration of the present.
The “Spring” Symphony was premiered in Leipzig on March 31, 1841. The Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra was conducted by Felix Mendelssohn.
Here is the music for your enjoyment:
