User:Mahlerlover1/Symphony no. 3 (W. Schuman)
American composer William Schuman's Symphony no. 3 was completed on January 11, 1941, and premiered on October 17 of that year by the Boston Symphony Orchestra conducted by Serge Koussevitsky, to whom it is dedicated. It received the first annual award of Music Critic's Circle of New York for best new orchestral work in the season 1941-42.
Instrumentation[edit]
The symphony is scored for an orchestra consisting of piccolo (doubling flute), 2 flutes, 2 oboes, clarinet in E♭, 2 clarinets in B♭, bass clarinet, 2 bassoons, 4 horns in F, 4 trumpets in C, 4 trombones, tuba, snare drum, cymbals, bass drum, xylophone, timpani and strings, with third flute (doubling second piccolo), third oboe, third clarinet in B♭, third bassoon, contrabassoon, 4 more horns in F, and piano listed as "optional, but very desirable".[1]
Structure[edit]
Rather than the usual four movements, the symphony is in two parts, each consisting of two continuous sections in a tempo relation of slow-fast and given titles suggesting Baroque formal practices, though Schuman does not follows these forms strictly:
- Part I:
- a) Passacaglia
- b) Fugue
- Part II:
Part I[edit]
Passacaglia[edit]
The symphony begins with the violas presenting a lyric melody that forms the basis of the passacaglia. This meoldy is treated in canon, first in the strings, then horns, and finally woodwinds. The first variation after this canonic opening is for trumpets and trombones accompanied by parallel triads in the strings, the second a variation for the brass section only. The passacaglia winds down on a variation for trombones and strings connecting to the fugue.
Fugue[edit]
The fugue, marked "Vigoroso", opens with a rhythmic, jagged subject presented by the horns and pizzicato violas and 'celli.
Part II[edit]
Chorale[edit]
The Chorale opens with a meditative introduction scored for divided violas and 'celli. After this comes to a close, a solo trumpet introduces a lyric theme that forms the basis for the rest of the chorale, first taken up by solo flute, then violins, until a climactic presentation by the full wind and string sections fades into a quiet reprise of the introduction in the horns. A passage for oboe and english horn serves as a transition to the Toccata.