SYMPHONY NO. 4 IN D MINOR, OP. 120
Rather slow – Lively * Romance: Rather slow * Scherzo and trio: Lively * Finale: Slow – Lively
This particular symphony by Robert Schumann has a numbering problem. We know it as Number 4, but it was written in 1841. Schumann was experiencing a high as regards orchestral writing, thanks largely to Clara who had encouraged him to tackle larger forms. He’d written his Spring Symphony, the Overture, Scherzo and Finale and a movement of what was to become the Piano Concerto. He immediately began work on a second symphony, this one in D minor. It was completed in a short time and premiered in Leipzig. The event was a failure, and Schumann relegated the score to a bottom drawer.
In the meantime, he wrote what were published as his second and third symphonies, and in 1851, ten years after its unsuccessful premiere, he took another look at his D minor symphony. He revised it and it was published as No. 4.
A dramatic chord captures our attention as the slow introduction begins and flowing string ideas dominate. These turn out to be an important motto theme that will appear again in the symphony. Soon a quicker tempo introduces the main section of the movement, which has an almost Beethoven-like intensity.
The second movement is a quietly flowing romance with oboe and cello featuring prominently. In a sense we almost need this respite from the first movement’s overpowering gestures.
The scherzo has an emphatic, powerful theme and rhythm which reminds us that this is a symphony of great weight and import. It dissolves into mysterious darkness and mist, reminiscent of the bridge passage in Beethoven’s Fifth between the third and fourth movements. Tension builds and strange chords float about until the finale erupts with energetic music that carries the music to its triumphant close.
