Symphony No. 4 in C Major

Franz Schmidt’s poignant and introspective Symphony No. 4—his best known and last—is full of unrelenting sadness and introspection. Schmidt regarded it as a requiem for his daughter, who had died two years before the 1934 premiere. The 45-minute Bruckneresque Symphony progresses in four clearly defined movements. The first opens with an unaccompanied solo trumpet that sets a mournful tone. The slow movement features a funereal solo cello that aches pensively; the texture and subsequent development grow organically from the first few bars. In the “Molto vivace", virtuosic strings enter in staggered groups, with echoes from solo bassoon and cor anglais. The themes develop and erupt into a rolling climax, followed by a waning aftermath, as though the momentum could grow no more. The finale begins with the trumpet theme of the opening but this time played by a dark-hued horn. Near the end, relentless timpani strokes emphasise an orchestral crescendo, giving way to the lone trumpet from the beginning, and thus this touching and inexplicably neglected symphony is brought to a close.