Joseph Haydn: Symphony No.20 Context Often known as the ‘Father of the Symphony’, Joseph Haydn’s legacy as a symphonist stays strong today. Haydn composed 104 symphonies over the course of his long and fruitful life, and we at Classicalexburns want to help you discover the stories and music behind all of them. In numerical order we will cover each symphony in the new #Haydn104 project, so look out for new ones by checking the ‘Projects’ page on our website, or by engaging with us on social media.   The Music The first four-movement symphony since No.15, Joseph Haydn’s twentieth symphony w ..read more

Gustav Mahler: Symphony No.2 (Movement V)   Movement V At Mahler’s funeral on 22nd May 1911, fellow composer and friend J.B. Fӧrster recalled that, although Mahler had requested no music to be played at the service, nature had its own ideas:   “Only somewhere in a tree a bird sang a disjointed springtime melody, and I was inevitably reminded of the final movement of Mahler’s Second Symphony. There, above a world shaken to its very foundations by the horrors of the Last Judgement, a solitary bird soars aloft, as high as the clouds themselves, the last living creature, and its song, fr ..read more

Gustav Mahler: Symphony No.2 (Movement IV) Movement IV Although added very late in the compositional process, the fourth movement plays a key role in the dramaturgy of the symphony. After the riotous Scherzo, this movement calmly opens, not with the orchestra, but with a human voice. The movement is composed for solo alto voice and orchestra and acts as a bridge between the Scherzo and Finale movements.  Similarly to the Scherzo, the fourth movement also uses Des Knaben Wunderhorn for literary inspiration. The short poem, entitled Urlicht (‘Primeval Light’), answers questions raised in pr ..read more

Gustav Mahler: Symphony No.2 (Movement III)   Movement III Also composed in the summer of 1893, the third movement was originally labelled as the second movement, as it bears many similarities to Todtenfeier. This movement is the first of the symphony to take musical and literary inspiration from Mahler’s Des Knaben Wunderhorn collection. For the Scherzo, Mahler uses the song ‘Des Antonius von Padua Fischpredigt’ from ‘The Humoresken’ collection of songs. Similarly to the funeral march based on the nursery rhyme Bruder Martin, the satire Mahler instils in this movement is of a similar sty ..read more

Gustav Mahler: Symphony No.2 (Movement II) Movement II Once Mahler had completed the Second Symphony, he became troubled as to where the Andante movement should be placed. Completed in the summer of 1893, the Andante was originally labelled as the third movement as Mahler initially felt that “the power of the opening movement and the gentleness of the Andante was too extreme.” Out of all three inner movements, the Andante was moved around the most, going from third to fourth, before finally settling in second.  Vastly different in character from the First Movement, the second is light in ..read more

Gustav Mahler – Symphony No.2 (Genesis & Movement I)   Genesis In 1888, when Gustav Mahler began working on the first and second movements of his Second Symphony, he had completely immersed himself in paradoxical thoughts regarding death and mortality. Attempting to follow on from a narrative that figuratively and literally hit a dead end (the death and burial of the hero of his First Symphony), Mahler faced an uphill battle with the sketches for the Second Symphony. Between 1888-94, Mahler had made many decisions as to what the Second would represent both musically and programmatical ..read more

Ralph Vaughan Williams: English Folk Song Suite Context As well as appreciating British landscapes and heritage, Ralph Vaughan Williams was also sentimental about Britain’s musical history. Military bands were on the rise again, and thus in 1923, Vaughan Williams composed his English Folk Song Suite for them. Although popular in most wind orchestras, it’s the fully orchestrated version by Gordon Jacob that we mainly hear in concert halls today (please note this blog will be exploring the orchestral version of this work). The original military band version was published under the title Folk Son ..read more

Alexander von Zemlinsky: Symphony No. 1  Context Born in Vienna in 1871, Alexander von Zemlinsky was tutored by some of the ‘great’ composers of the Romantic period – Gustav Mahler and Johannes Brahms. After the premiere of Zemlinsky’s First Symphony, Brahms supported the young composer until his own death in 1897. You can find out more about Brahms here. Composed between 1892-93, Symphony No.1 in D minor was premiered in late 1893. At the time of composition, Zemlinsky was 21 years old and still studying at Conservatory. He took great influence from Brahms, however he ofte ..read more

Ingolf Dahl: Concerto for Alto Saxophone Context Ingolf Dah’s Concerto for Alto Saxophone and Wind Orchestra was composed in 1948, after the German composer received a letter of request from virtuoso saxophonist, Sigurd Rascher. Dahl quickly settled on using a wind orchestra instead of a traditional orchestra for the accompaniment commenting that “Somebody has to write the big [wind orchestra] pieces, the symphonic works, if the medium is to be elevated.”  Originally conceived as a one-movement fantasy work, Dahl soon edited and expanded the concerto into a three-movement concerto. Comple ..read more

Nancy Dalberg: String Quartet No.1 Context Nancy Dalberg (1881-1949) was a Danish composer. A trained pianist, Dalberg had dreams of attending the Royal Conservatory in Copenhagen, but sadly her father refused her this. After being treated for a medical complication in her arm, Dalberg took up composition instead. She took private composition lessons with Johan Svendsen, Fini Henriques and Carl Nielsen. Dalberg does not have a huge output of music as she mostly composed between 1914 and 1935. She is remembered for being the first Danish woman to compose a symphony and for her three string quar ..read more