Schubert: Symphony No. 8

The "Great" C Major Symphony is the last symphony Schubert composed – a "Completed" one after the "Unfinished", of which he had only completed the first two movements and then (for unknown reasons) had not continued the work. To distinguish it from his much shorter sixth symphony, also in C major, it received the epithet "the Great", – and it is indeed a large and magnificent work, the pinnacle of his symphonic creation: monumental, representative and aimed at the general public. Schubert had begun the composition in August 1824, perhaps only in March 1825; the main work took place in the summer of 1825 during the longest journey of his life, which led him from Vienna via Linz and Steyr, via Gmunden, whose surroundings he found "truly heavenly", and Salzburg up to Bad Gastein, where he had imposing Alpine peaks before his eyes. On the first sheet of music of the autograph score, the dating "March 1828" is given – perhaps the date of the final completion. On November 19 of the same year, Schubert died at the age of only 31 years. The symphony was premiered posthumously on March 21, 1839, in the Leipzig Gewandhaus, under the direction of the Gewandhaus Kapellmeister – the then 30-year-old Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy. Schubert's "Great" C Major Symphony was recently performed on February 1 and 2, 2018, by the Symphony Orchestra of Bavarian Broadcasting under the direction of Mariss Jansons in the Herkulessaal of the Munich Residence. Now the live recording is already available at BR Klassik – the highly acclaimed and outstanding interpretation of one of the most important compositions in the symphonic repertoire of the Romantic era!