CONCERT FROM LEEDS TRIENNIAL MUSICAL Festival, RELAYED FROM TOWN HALL, LEEDS
LONDON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Conducted by Sir THOMAS BEECHAM
THIS Symphony is called the ' Rhenish ' because Schumann used to say that the first impulse towards its composition came from his first sight of the Cathedral of Cologne, and that this impulse was strengthened by his presence there at the grand ceremonial of the installation of the Archbishop as Cardinal.
There are, unusually, five Movements.
FIRST MOVEMENT. (Lively.) This is even fiery in places. The two main tunes are the Vigorous one with which the piece begins and a charming quiet one, a little later, introduced by the Woodwind and some of the lower Strings.
SECOND MOVEMENT. (In moderate time.) A kind of Minuet, with, at the opening, the tune in some of the bass instruments ; this is varied in different ways, and then, for a change, we have another Minuet, followed by the first one again.
THIRD MOVEMENT. A dreamy sort of ' song without words.'
FOURTH MOVEMENT. This solemn Movement represents the impressions made upon the mind of the composer by the cathedral ceremony mentioned above. The full orchestra is used. all the more effectively after the reduction of the last Movement, and the solemn Trombones enter for the first time in the Symphony.
FIFTH MOVEMENT. (Lively.) The spirit here embodied is that of a Rhenish popular festival.