The BBC Midland Orchestra
Leader, Alfred Cave
Conducted by Leslie Heward
Much less often played than the popular Second Symphony in B minor, Borodin's First Symphony is in some respects an even finer work. Its first movement is one of the most remarkable in the whole history of the post - Beethoven symphony, practically the whole of the thematic material being stated in the first few bars of the slow introduction. The other three movements-the Berliozian scherzo with its folk-songish trio, the oriental slow movement, the breezy, though rather Schumannesque, finale-if by no means as original, are equally delightful.
It is almost incredible that this symphony was the work of a self-taught amateur, though it is true that Balakirev claimed that ' every bar of it was criticised and overhauled by me '. It was begun in 1862 but not completed until 1867.