Introduction
In complete contrast with his 4th symphony – the Tragic – in 1816 Schubert approaches his 5th symphony with utter serenity. It is quite an unexpected work for the same Vienna that less than a decade earlier premiered the mother of all 5th symphonies, Beethoven’s.
Schubert adopted almost an 18th-century model: he trimmed down the orchestra, using only one flute instead of the usual couple, no clarinets, no trumpets or timpani. Everything that could taint the color and the happiness of this work, or make it heavier, was stripped out.
Franz Schubert – oil painting by Franz Schubert – oil painting by Wilhelm August Rieder (1825)
As Brian Newbould pointed out in his Schubert and the Symphony it was almost as “Beethoven had never lived”[1].
Mozart and Haydn, whose music had been part of Schubert’s everyday life, are a clear reference for this symphony.
Allegro
Should you need a score you can find one here.
The first movement is in typical sonata form: an exposition with two contrasting themes, a development in which the material gets reworked, and a recapitulation.
In the classical era it was quite common to have a slow introduction at the beginning of a symphony. Mozart and Haydn certainly wrote their fair share of slow introductions, as did Beethoven. It was a way to catch the attention of the audience as well as introduce the first theme of the Allegro.
But different themes demanded different solutions: the opening statement of Mozart’s K551 or Beethoven’s 5th are so adamant they need no introduction. On the other hand, symphonies such as the “Prague” or the “London” needed a large introduction, while the first theme of Mozart’s K550, the second G minor symphony, required that ¾ of a bar that makes it stand out (as an exercise, try to think about that movement without those few introductory notes and you’ll see how much you would miss them).
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Development
The 4 introductory bars are back. The connection is severed by the rhythmic element that appeared in bars 110-111, which, in turn, is a version of the, now familiar, dotted rhythm. The 4 bars are repeated 4 times: the structure is the same, with the bassoons entering in the 2nd and 4th iteration. What changes is the harmony, moving down a third each time.
The rhythmic material is back in a modulating pattern as we get to the most dramatic moment, with the rhythmic element in the bass line and everyone playing forzato
The tension doesn’t last long, the dynamic drops to piano though we’re still wandering around, the harmony constantly shifting under our feet
A final leap on a fp slides us into the recapitulation
Recapitulation
Unusual, in a way: the recapitulation doesn’t start in the original key of Bb major but on its subdominant, the Eb.
Mind you, this is a practice for which Schubert, among others, has been accused of laziness: if you start the recapitulation from the subdominant you only have to transpose your transition material a 5th higher and you’ll end up right on the home key for the second theme. No-fuss.
However, Schubert here does something more: at the end of the transition, on bars 215-230, he rewrites it almost entirely
After this, the recap goes on by the book until bar 276 where Schubert cuts into the coda with a greatly joyful moment before going back to the closing material as in the exposition.
Incidentally, this is the same technique used by Mozart in ending the first movement of his symphony K550.
Andante con moto
The lovely melody, moving to a classical 6/8 meter and to the subdominant key of Eb, opens a movement that shies away from the sonata form, going for an extended ABA form. Extended because the A and B blocks are, in fact, repeated, forming a final A-B – A1-B1 – A2-Coda structure.
The 4 bars theme is exposed by the strings and doubled by the woodwinds
The second part of this first musical paragraph reiterates the dominance of the Eb major key. Notice though how, through the same material, Schubert adds those shadows we encountered in the first movement, underlining harmonic subtleties with offbeat accents
The B section starts in complete contrast with what we just left, with a wandering and daring Fb arpeggio
The idea is obviously related to the opening theme. The dialogue evolves, moving first to the flute and bassoon-fist violins and then including the entire woodwind section. Three bars later we land on a desperate G minor, enhanced by the entrance of the horns
Schubert could have easily moved back to the A section here, as moving from G minor to Eb major is quite an easy step. Instead, he takes his time, indulging in an additional passage that sees the same chromatic motive moving from section to section till we finally land back on Eb and the reprise of the theme
The A section is repeated in its entirety with some embellishment and lands on the B section which, this time, is Gb instead of Cb
This section is shorter in returning to the home key and only the first part of the A section is repeated, landing on the coda, which closes the movement with a beautiful and warm arpeggio of the horns
Notes
Newbould, Schubert and the Symphony: A New Perspective, pp.110-111
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