Schnabel: Symphony No.1/Symphony No.3
Our Price: $21.99
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Category: Music CD
See more new music releases
Canadian Music Store
Music CD Cover
Composer: Artur SchnabelConductor: Jacqueline Hartley
Conductor: Paul Zukofsky
Orchestra: BBC Symphony Orchestra
Orchestra: Prague Symphony Orchestra
Edition: Music CD
Music Label: Cp2 Records
Soundtracks:
- Symphony No.1: I. Molto Moderation un poco grave
- Symphony No.1: II. Vivace
- Symphony No.1: III. Largo con devozione e solennita
- Symphony No.1: IV. Allegro Molto e con brio
- Symphony No.3: I Fantasia
- Symphony No.3: II. Dance
- Symphony No.3: III. Introduzione
- Symphony No.3: IV. Thema
Schnabel: Symphony No.1/Symphony No.3 Poster
A massive work, Symphony No. 1 is scored for three flutes (the second and third doubling piccolo), three oboes, three clarinets, three bassoons (the third doubling contrabassoon), four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, five percussion, and strings. Structurally, the Symphony follows the four-movement-model previously laid out in the 1935 Violin and Piano Sonata, and both this Symphony and the Sonata helped shape the 1941-3 Symphony No. 2--in some instances, quite specifically (i.e. compare the openings of the third movements of Symphonies 1 and 2). Pitchwise, Symphony No. 1 uses various collections of six or seven pitches each, with the Dorian mode being one of the collections. These pitch collections spread over various interval ranges (major seventh, minor sixth or tritone, i.e. the elegiac trumpet solo of the third movement, played by William Hougton, is based within two ranges, each range spanning a tritone), and the collections are freely manipulated melodically, contrapuntally, and harmonically. Within these pitch collections, and especially within the opening motive, the intervals of a minor second and that of a perfect fifth play pivotal (indeed almost motival) roles. Symphony No. 1 is by far the densest of the Symphonies. In contrast, Symphony No. 3 is far more concise, far less declamatory, emphasizing free counterpoint over harmony, and in general having a phrasing and syntax far more segmented, almost bordering on the abrupt. If ever Schnabel was at his most prescient, and at the cusp of what was "in the air" (see my notes to Symphony No. 2) it is in the work that Symphony No. 1 is paired with on this CD.According to various letters, Symphony No. 3 (scored for winds by threes, four horns, four trumpets, three trombones, tuba, percussion, piano and strings) was written in the summer of 1948 (although the finished score bears dates between June 25 and September 11, 1949, with the designation Los Gatos). On July 7 (1948) Schnabel wrote (from Sils Maria) that he had started a "3rd Symphony"; and on July 19: "I have finished the first movement of the new symphony and written 2/3 of the second"; ...somewhat later: "I am on the last movement. It presents a special problem. Using an old tune of mine as its basis, I discovered the attractive, but often seemingly insoluble difficulty of combining the free use of musical material, which is the great advantage of so-called atonality, with the limited use of it, which to me, in the development of musical ideas, has become absolutely shop-worn, and which no trick of spicing can save from shallowness."
The "old tune of mine" is the theme (played by Joseph Ruzicka (with thanks to JN for one D#)) of the last (i.e. second) movement of Schnabel's 1899 Piano Concerto (although the notation has been changed from a more propulsive 2/4 of the Piano Concerto to the 4/4 of the Symphony).
Schnabel's three symphonies rank among this century's best works in an extended serial format. However, Schnabel doesn't work with straight serial ideas (or a rigid tone row). In Symphony 1 (1938) he also uses various collections, or clusters, of six to seven pitches with the Dorian mode being one collection. These pitch clusters are spread over various interval ranges (major seventh, minor sixth, etc.). For Symphony 3 (1949), Schnabel imposes a heady catalog of meter changes--of 202 bars in the first movement, there are 148 meter changes. This is intelligent writing, but it isn't for everyone. --Paul Cook
Classical Music CDs
Artur Schnabel, Vol. 1: Piano Piece in Seven Movements; Piano SonataRelease date: 1996-02-09; Music CD
Best price: $15.98
Schnabel: Sonata for violin; Feldman: Spring of ChosroesRelease date: 1991-10-01; Music CD
Best price: $21.99
Schnabel: Symphony No.1/ Symphony No.3Music CD
Best price: $21.99
Schnabel: Symphony No.2Release date: 1994-12-12; Music CD
Price in other shops:
String Quartets 1 and 4, Sonata for CelloRelease date: 2004-12-20; Music CD
Best price: $43.98
Schnabel: Dance Suite/ SonataRelease date: 1999-03-23; Music CD
Best price: $15.00
Price in other shops:
Schnabel: Dance and Secret & Joy and Peace/ Solo SonataMusic CD
Best price: $21.99
Helen Schnabel - Helen Schnabel Plays Artur SchnabelRelease date: 2005-01-01; Music CD
Best price: $16.99
Artur Schnabel: Sonata for Violin & Piano; Sonata for Violin SoloRelease date: 1998-01-01; Music CD
Best price: $9.75
Litwin, Tetzlaff - Schnabel: Violin SonatasRelease date: 2005-09-13; Music CD
Best price: $2.71
Price in other shops:
String Quartets 1 and 4, Sonata for CelloRelease date: 2004-12-20; Music CD
Best price: $43.98
Litwin, Tetzlaff - Schnabel: Violin SonatasRelease date: 2005-09-13; Music CD
Best price: $2.71
Price in other shops:
Artur Schnabel: String Quartet No. 5; Piano Trio; Seven Piano PiecesRelease date: 2005-02-22; Music CD
Best price: $9.88
Price in other shops: