Symphony No. 8 in B minor, "Unfinished" - Rosamunde

Abstract

Schubert provided an overture and nine numbers for a play called Rosamunde, Queen of Cyprus by Wilhelmine von Chézy. It was a resounding flop, closing in two nights, but the music was well-received. Even so, Schubert did not take advantage of the evident high regard the audience had for it by extracting the music for concert purposes; that service was not performed until 1868, when Grove and Sullivan made their famous discovery of a treasury of forgotten Schubert scores (including the Unfinished Symphony) in Vienna. Schubert's nine numbers are: (1) Entr'acte in B minor; (2) Ballet in B; (3) Entr'acte No. 2 in D major and Romanza; (4) Spirit Chorus; (5) Entr'acte No. 3 in B flat major. (6) Shepherd's Melody; (7) Shepherds' Chorus; (8) Hunters' Chorus; and (9) Ballet No. 2 in G. Schubert re-used the tune of No. (5) in a later Impromptu and in his Quartet, D. 804. The score was composed at great speed and to some extent thrown together from other sources: the overture used (now commonly called the "Rosamunde" Overture) was originally written for an operetta called Die Zauberharfe. Another piece is also designated "Rosamunde" Overture for piano duet, but it was also composed earlier, for the operetta Alfonso und Estrella. Incidentally, Gerald Abraham speculates that the B minor Entr'acte is the missing final movement of the Unfinished Symphony in B minor. Scientific examination of the manuscripts themselves tends counter to this view. Early in 1822, Schubert was at the zenith of his career and he began writing a monumental Symphony in B minor. By the end of that year, he had scored the first two movements and sketched a third. He contracted syphilis late in that year and for a time was completely incapacitated, which was when he stopped work on the symphony and set it aside. By spring, he had recovered some of his strength. He was accepted for honorary membership in the Styrian Music Society at Graz in Austria. As part of his acceptance, he sent the two completed movements of the B minor Symphony to its director, Anselm Hüttenbrenner, who promptly stuffed them into a drawer and forgot them. It languished there until 1860, when Hüttenbrenner's younger brother Joseph came upon it and recognizing it as a lost treasure and began badgering Viennese conductor Johann Herbeck to perform the piece. The work was finally performed December 17, 1865.

The symphony itself is both large and understated. From the first, ominous opening bars, it is evident this is not the youthful Schubert who earlier crafted six lightweight symphonies. Confident and audacious, Schubert begins the 14 minute first movement by laying down a cornerstone in the basses, upon which is layered a gentle, wafting melody which gradually accumulates mass and power to a quick conclusion. This all turns out to be an introduction, and one of the composer's most brilliant melodies ensues. This, too, quickly becomes larger and more dramatic and an effective bridge leads back to the beginning. An intense, soaring center section, almost triumphant in its great chords, leads to a final reprise of the opening and the great movement ends solemnly.

The 11 minute Andante con moto movement begins with a marvelous melody, presented straightforwardly with no ornamentation, and this leads seamlessly to another marvelous woodwind melody. Great, broad shouldered strides carry the music to a new key where the themes are repeated. Tranquillity returns with the first themes and after a summation of what has passed, the movement—and the work—marches quietly to its end.