the similarities between this movement and the second movement of Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony -the A minor key, the processional character, and the alternation between march and sweet themes. However, Schubert did not only look back here, but also looked forward to the future. The careful use of each instrument, the alternation between chamber and largescale sections, and the use of many stylistic sources anticipates Gustav Mahler at his best. Schubert breaks and then reassembles the different musical materials wisely, creatively and gradually. At the end of a long process that lasts more than half of the movement, we reach a dynamic, harmonic and orchestral climax. The music here is so powerful, rich and painful, an ultimate realization of the sublime, a type of experience that preoccupied so many of the Romantic generation. Then Schubert does the unbelievable - and stops. The entire orchestra stops playing, and then, as if picking up the pieces, starts playing one of the sweet themes again. Schubert does not only stretch the limits of the style, but goes beyond them and redefines them. Out of the fracture, we discover him as a peerless artist, as well as our own capacity as listeners who are able to experience such creations. After such significant movements, Schubert faces an important challenge. According to the Classical ideal of balance, the next two movements should be lighter in character, but not too short. Only such movements could befit the symphony as a whole. Schubert, of course, meets the challenge. The Scherzo is cheerful, jubilant and full of Viennese grace. In the middle of it, repeated notes in the horns take us to the Trio section, where the woodwinds shine in a broad, elegant dance, accompanied by waltz-like patterns in the strings and brass. The ecstatic energy that opens the fourth movement might remind us of the opening of Strauss’ Don Juan, the work that opened our concert (and of course, was written many decades after the symphony). After developing the first, heroic theme, the orchestra stops playing for two bars, and then the horns play four repeated notes. Then the woodwinds play the movement’s second theme, accompanied by energetic strings. In the development section Schubert writes, first for the clarinets and then for the rest of the orchestra, the second theme in a slightly altered manner. It sounds somewhat familiar - yes, it is a paraphrase on Beethoven’s Ode To Joy, a loving homage to the great master. In the finale’s extended coda, the four repeated notes motive is heard in its full potential. It sounds as if the orchestra is about to fall apart, but then, in the most natural manner, Schubert reinstates the order. Robert Schumann was so happy to find Schubert’s symphony, that he sent the score to his friend, Felix Mendelssohn. Mendelssohn gave the work its first public performance with the Gewandhaus orchestra in Leipzig on March 21, 1839, and the rest is history. Schubert’s "Great" proved beyond any doubt that one can still write an original masterpiece symphony without being a mere imitation of Beethoven. Following the discovery, Mendelssohn and Schumann composed their own mature symphonies, in which one can detect the obvious influence of Schubert’s "Great". Schumann kept the pen that he found on Beethoven’s grave. It is with this pen that he wrote his second symphony, as well as the well-known review about Schubert’s "Great", a review that every music lover would enjoy reading. In these pages I tried to express some of the spirit of admiration for Schubert, written in that pen in that well-known paper. Oded Shnei-Dor
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