Music TheoryPrint

Franz Schubert

Symphony No. 4 (Schubert)

The Symphony No. 4 in C minor, 417, is a symphony by Franz Schubert completed in April 1816 when Schubert was 19 years old, a year after his Third Symphony. However, it was not premiered until

Structure#

Schubert added the title Tragic to his autograph manuscript some time after the work was completed. The opening theme of the Allegro of the first movement derives from the opening theme of Ludwig van Beethoven’s String Quartet, Op. 18 No. 4 in the same key. The slow movement is in ABABA form, which would be a favorite form for most of Schubert’s future symphonic slow movements. The themes in the B section are not new. They are developed from the Allegro theme of the first movement and the themes of the A section. The second appearance of B, the third return of A and the beginning of the coda have a sixteenth-note ostinato accompaniment added to help bring cohesiveness to the sections. This was a device that Beethoven had previously used in the slow movements of his Op. 18 No. 1 quartet and his Pathetique sonata.

  • Program about Schubert’s Fourth Symphony from the BBC Radio 3 series Discovering Music, contains an analysis of the work followed by a complete performance
  • Performance by the Gardner Chamber Orchestra conducted by Douglas Boyd, from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in MP3 format
Composer
Franz Schubert