Schubert: Symphony in C Major, "The Great"

Featuring

Heinz Holliger
Kammerorchester Basel
Franz Schubert

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Interpretation

Conductor Heinz Holliger aims to return to an 'early Romanticism' interpretation of Schubert, making the composer's modernity newly experienceable.

Recording & Production

This album is part of a larger project by Heinz Holliger and the Kammerorchester Basel to record all of Schubert's symphonies and selected operatic overtures between 2017 and 2019.

Interpretation

Conductor Heinz Holliger instructs musicians to treat vibrato as 'something very precious, that one only uses when it is necessary,' drawing on historical performance practice from Spohr's violin tutor.

Cultural Impact

Schubert's 'Great' C major Symphony significantly influenced Robert Schumann, triggering his own symphonic compositions, and likely prompted Felix Mendelssohn to complete his 'Scottish' Symphony.

Interpretation

For this recording, the Kammerorchester Basel uses period instruments like natural horns, early Viennese horns, narrow-bore trumpets and trombones, historical timpani, and gut strings with classical bows for the strings.

Notable Performances

The 'Great' C major Symphony was premiered on March 21, 1839, in the Leipzig Gewandhaus by Felix Mendelssohn, after Robert Schumann sent him the score.

Composition History

Schubert's 'Great' C major Symphony was discovered by his brother Ferdinand Schubert in 1839 among the composer's unpublished papers, then brought to Robert Schumann's attention.