Schubert: Symphony No. 7 "Unfinished", Allegro moderato | Lucerne Festival Orchestra
Magical, mysterious, profound and thoroughly romantic — such words could be used to describe the opening movement (Allegro moderato) of Franz Schubert’s Symphony No. 7 in B minor, D. 759, his so-called "Unfinished" symphony.
And yet, words can hardly do justice to the effect of this music. Conductor Claudio Abbado (1933-2014) repeatedly explored Schubert’s "Unfinished" symphony throughout his lifetime. In his final concert, the then-terminally ill Italian conductor performed the piece with the orchestra he had conducted for years — the Lucerne Festival Orchestra. Following Abbado’s death, the orchestra gave a memorial concert on April 6, 2014, entitled "In Memoriam Claudio Abbado." It was only fitting that the program should open with the first movement of Abbado's beloved Schubert symphony — this time without a conductor, but in the spirit of the departed conductor himself. The performance took place at the Lucerne Culture and Congress Centre.
Franz Schubert (1797–1828) composed Symphony No. 7 in B minor, D. 759, in 1822. More precisely, he completed only the first two movements that year, and sketches for a third movement (Scherzo). A fourth movement may also have been planned, but since Schubert was commissioned to write an opera, he set the unfinished symphony aside — never to complete it. The question of how the Austrian composer originally conceived the orchestral work continues to be debated among musicologists.
The numbering of Symphony D. 759 was also unclear for many years. Older editions listed it as Symphony No. 8 and Symphony in C major, D. 944 ("The Great") as Symphony No. 7. The numbering was based largely on the dates when the scores were discovered or the works premiered. Today, we know that the Symphony in B minor was composed before the Symphony in C major, and the current numbering follows that chronology.
Although Symphony No. 7 remained a fragment, it possesses remarkable radiance. Its premiere on December 17, 1865, in Vienna, is said to have been received enthusiastically. After just the first few bars, listeners reportedly recognized Schubert’s musical handwriting and, in a sense, felt the presence of the composer, who had been dead for almost forty years.
The first movement, the Allegro moderato, is an extraordinary piece of music with a profound and mysterious atmosphere that quickly draws the listener in. At first, the low strings play a dark opening motif; then the violins enter with a shimmering, fleeting motif that drives the rhythm of the music forward. Finally, the oboes and clarinets introduce the first theme, a melancholy melody with an almost memorable quality, one that seems as though it could continue unfolding indefinitely.
Yet before long, the cellos introduce the second theme: a folk-song-like "Ländler," even catchier than the first theme. From this motivic and thematic material, Schubert creates a seemingly floating, tension-filled movement that, formally speaking, follows a simple sonata form. The brevity of the movement is due in no small part to the fact that there are virtually no extended transitional passages. Instead, abrupt orchestral chords repeatedly crash into the music, interrupting its magical dance of melodies — something that would not be encountered again until decades later in the symphonies of Gustav Mahler (1860–1911).
The mysterious quality of this symphonic first movement may stem from the sustained tension running throughout it, which keeps it coherent despite the interruptions by chords. And perhaps it is also due to the melancholy character that presides over the entire movement, despite occasional moments of musical brightness. With this symphonic movement, Franz Schubert created a brilliant orchestral work that could be regarded as an embodiment of everything Romantic-era music was known for.
Author: Rita Kass
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