Symphony in E-flat (A. Reicha)

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.

Sources

1. Autograph Score, Bibliothèque nationale de France (F-Pn), MS-9153

• Analysis
• Scan at Gallica

Overview

I. Allegro

• E-flat major
  
• 400 measures
  

II. Largo

• G minor – E-flat major
  
• 55 measures
  

III. Menuetto molto vivace – Trio

• C minor – E-flat major
  
• 86 measures
  

IV. Finale. Allegro molto vivace

• E-flat major
  
• 510 measures