Symphony No. 10 (Schubert)

Schubert's Symphony No. 10 in D major, D 936A is an unfinished work that survives in a partly fragmentary piano sketch. Only properly identified in the 1970s, it has been orchestrated by Brian Newbould in a conjectural completion that has subsequently been performed, published and recorded.

The Sketch

The sketch appears to date from the last weeks of the composer's life, in October-November 1828, and is presumed to be the "Last Symphony" ("Letzte Symphonie") mentioned by his friend Eduard von Bauernfeld in an appreciation of Schubert published in the "Wiener Zeitschrift für Kunst, Literatur, Theater und Mode" for 13 June 1829. [Brian Newbould, "Schubert and the Symphony", p. 298.]

The symphony was evidently planned, unlike any of Schubert's other symphonies, in three movements:

* No tempo marking but "Allegro maestoso" in Newbould's edition
* Andante
* Scherzo ("Allegro moderato" in Newbould's edition)

Despite the title 'scherzo', the remarkable third movement, which is extremely contrapuntal in texture and includes extended fugal passages, appears to be a compound movement performing the functions of both scherzo and finale. The most fully preserved movement is the Andante, an impressively solemn, slow-march invention which has been seen as anticipating Mahler. [ Newbould, p. 264.] There are about 30 instrumental indications in Schubert's sketch which confirm that the orchestra to be employed was similar in size to the Eighth and Ninth symphonies, with a trio of trombones which make impressive contributions in the first two movements.

The music of the symphony appears to some extent exploratory and manifests unusual features, notably the hybrid form of the third movement and the highly contrapuntal nature of much of the material. Sketches for the third movement are associated with a number of counterpoint exercises, which suggests that it is related in some way to the course of study of counterpoint that Schubert had begun with Simon Sechter shortly before his death.

Other Realizations

The composition "Rendering (after Schubert)" by Luciano Berio, composed in 1989, is based on the sketches for this symphony.

Notes

References

* Brian Newbold, "Schubert and the Symphony. A New Perspective" (London, 1992)
* Franz Schubert Symphony No.10, Realisation: Brian Newbould - full score (Faber, 1995) with commentary