Symphonies Nos. 3 and 4 - Piano Concerto

Abstract

Although Swedish composer Franz Berwald's Symphony No. 3, "Sinfonie singulière" was completed in 1845, it did not receive its first performance until 1905. In fact, only one of Berwald's four symphonies was performed during his lifetime. Considered by many to be the first great Scandinavian composer, he has been described as a cross between Felix Mendelssohn, an acquaintance of Berwald's, and Finland's Jean Sibelius, born three years before Berwald's death.

Not only is it widely held that the Sinfonie singulière is Berwald's finest work, but that it may be the first great Scandinavian orchestral work. The symphony is unique for this time period in that it has only three movements rather than the traditional four. While Berwald's earlier symphonies are right at home in the German Romantic school of Schumann and Mendelssohn (Berwald lived in Berlin and Vienna at various times), this piece looks forward with the robust and rustic quality one associates with later Nordic composers such as Edvard Grieg, Sibelius, and Carl Nielsen or Nationalists such as Antonín Dvorák.

The first movement, Allegro fuocoso, is in the traditional mid-nineteenth century sonata-allegro form. But, Berwald combines the organic compositional technique of Beethoven with one resembling tone painting to establish an atmosphere. Starting quietly, there is a feeling of great anticipation. Utilizing the interval of a fourth in various guises, Berwald uses motivic development and transformation rather than long, spun-out melodies, creating a sense of transition and evolution. This is a section of "gestation" rather than introduction in the traditional sense. The middle movement, in ternary form (ABA), begins with a heartfelt, Brahmsian Adagio. With a startling thump in the tympani about four minutes in, Berwald breaks into a scherzo that would have made Mendelssohn envious. Playful exchanges between winds and strings show Berwald's skill as an orchestrator and his mastery of manipulating thematic fragments. His not so subtle harmonic sequences are very much like Bruckner's in that they do not always advance the tonal scheme, but are, nonetheless, terrifically appealing. After a few minutes, the Adagio returns as abruptly as it disappeared. The final movement is highly charged and dramatic. Another Brucknerian moment occurs with a soft woodwind chorale over pizzicato strings, which flowers into a grand statement of this same theme. There is a quotation of the middle movement's Adagio melody about five minutes in, followed by a new lyrical theme that precedes a recapitulation of the beginning of this movement. A quiet return of the woodwind chorale in minor explodes into a joyfully victorious final statement, back in major, bringing this richly Romantic symphony to an end. In Franz Berwald's Sinfonie singulière one can hear some of the stylistic qualities that anticipate later composers such as Brahms, Bruckner, Sibelius, and Dvorák. Berwald spent the early part of the year 1842 in Vienna, where his music was very well-received and where he wrote his first two symphonies, those with the nicknames "Sérieuse" and "Capricieuse". Later that year he returned to his native Sweden hoping to continue his string of successes. But his music didn't make much of an impression there. Nevertheless he continued his composing, completing his other two symphonies—the so-called "Singulière" and "Naïve"—in the year 1845. He went to Paris in 1846, hoping to interest composer-conductor Daniel-François Auber in premiering the Sinfonie Naïve. Nothing came of that, though, and the symphony, now sans title (by Berwald's choice) and simply known as the Symphony No. 4, waited until April 9, 1878, for its first performance. That premiere was conducted by Ludvig Norman, who did more than anyone else to keep Berwald's music before the public in the decades after the composer's death.

Whether called Sinfonie Naïve or Symphony No. 4, the work radiates a feeling of contentment and lightheartedness. The first movement, somewhat misleadingly marked Allegro risoluto, begins in a rather relaxed mood. A playful staccato figure leads into the peaceful second idea, which becomes the basis of the following development. This movement, and the work as a whole, displays Berwald's distinctive, pungent harmonic sense and melodic freshness. The noble, pastoral second-movement Adagio leads without pause into an energetic scherzo, whose elfin quality calls the music of Felix Mendelssohn to mind. Rhythmic playfulness marks the Finale, an Allegro vivace that concludes with a sudden acceleration and exciting coda.