Symphony in E-flat (A. Reicha)
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for flute, two oboes, two bassoons, two trumpets, two horns, timpani, and strings | for flute, two oboes, two bassoons, two trumpets, two horns, timpani, and strings | ||
While in Bonn, where he lived between 1785 and 1794, Anton Reicha composed a considerable number of works for large orchestra, including at least four symphonies and six overtures. Stylistically, they run the gamut between Mozartean elegance and movements of astounding precocity and radicality. The Symphony in E-Flat Major is in many respects the most forward-looking of these early four. As with the rest of his Bonn orchestral music, he works on a broad canvas, fashioning a work that in its entirety lasts over half an hour. It is possible that his overall design, including the choice of C minor for the third movement, was influenced by his uncle Josef’s symphony in the same key. The second movement begins as a true funeral march in the most extravagant contemporary French style whose second half, quite unconventionally, departs into a very different character. The fiery third movement is a “Menuetto” in name only: its rapid tempo and minor-key fury show all the hallmarks of the Beethovenian scherzo, here made all the more interesting for being contemporaneous with Beethoven’s own first essays in the style. | |||
== External Links == | == External Links == | ||
* [https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b52514628q Autograph Score in the Bibliothèque nationale de France, MS-9153] | * [https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b52514628q Autograph Score in the Bibliothèque nationale de France, MS-9153] | ||
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Revision as of 01:12, 4 February 2023
composed in Bonn, c. 1790–1793
for flute, two oboes, two bassoons, two trumpets, two horns, timpani, and strings
While in Bonn, where he lived between 1785 and 1794, Anton Reicha composed a considerable number of works for large orchestra, including at least four symphonies and six overtures. Stylistically, they run the gamut between Mozartean elegance and movements of astounding precocity and radicality. The Symphony in E-Flat Major is in many respects the most forward-looking of these early four. As with the rest of his Bonn orchestral music, he works on a broad canvas, fashioning a work that in its entirety lasts over half an hour. It is possible that his overall design, including the choice of C minor for the third movement, was influenced by his uncle Josef’s symphony in the same key. The second movement begins as a true funeral march in the most extravagant contemporary French style whose second half, quite unconventionally, departs into a very different character. The fiery third movement is a “Menuetto” in name only: its rapid tempo and minor-key fury show all the hallmarks of the Beethovenian scherzo, here made all the more interesting for being contemporaneous with Beethoven’s own first essays in the style.
External Links