Leader, Alfred Cave
Conducted by LESLIE HEWARD
PATRICK CORY (pianoforte)
ORCHESTRA
Overture, Faust
Goethe's Faust has attracted' innumerable composers-Wagner, Liszt, Gounod, Berlioz, Rubinstein, and Schumann, to mention only a few. Schumann's Overture and set of pieces were intended for performance in the concert hall.
Ernest Newman has said that Schumann's ' Faust' music ' is really the spirit of the Faust conceived by the great poet—full of a passionate reflection upon life, an uplifted, philosophical sense of tragedy, a mellow sympathy with and pity for the troubled heart of man. From first to last he has made his emotions out of the deeper, not out of the more superficial, passions of the play '.
PATRICK CORY AND ORCHESTRA
Concerto in A minor, Op. 54
I. Allegro affettuoso, allegro; 2. Intermezzo, andante; 3. Allegro vivace
ORCHESTRA
Symphony No. 4, in D minor
1. Ziemlich langsam: Lebhaft; 2. Romanze: Ziemlich langsam; 3. Scherzo : Lebhaft; 4. Langsam : Lebhaft
Although the D minor Symphony appeared in 1851 as NO.4, it was actually sketched soon after the Symphony No. i. But Schumann withheld it for ten years and then thoroughly revised its construction and orchestration. In a letter Brahms, who after Schumann's death arranged for the publication of the original version, said that ' Schumann was so upset by a first rehearsal, which went off badly, that he subsequently orchestrated the symphony afresh at Diisseldorf, where he was used to a bad and incomplete orchestra. The original scoring has always delighted me. It is a real pleasure to see anything so bright and spontaneous expressed with corresponding ease and grace. It reminds me (without comparing it in other respects) of Mozart's G minor ... Everything is so absolutely natural that you cannot imagine it different; there are no harsh colours, no forced effects and so on '. Fragments from Manfred i. Entr'acte ; 2. Ranz des vaches (Song of the Swiss Cowherds) ; 3. Apparition of the Fairy of the Alps
Schumann's incidental music to Byron's Manfred consists of sixteen numbers. All, particularly the Overture, vividly interpret the moods of the drama. Much could be written about Schumann's affinity to Byron, and in Manfred we have an example of perfect sympathy and understanding of the composer for the poet.