JOHANN CHRISTIAN BACH
Symphony in G minor op. 6
FRANZ JOSEPH HAYDN
Symphony no. 39 in sol minore Sea storm Hob:I:39
ROBERT SCHUMANN
Symphony no. 3 in Mi bemolle maggiore Renana op. 97
Conductor
Hartmut Haenchen
Opera Carlo Felice Genova Orchestra
Johann Christian Bach (1735 – 1782), the eleventh son of Johann Sebastian, became connected during his training to the Milanese musical environment. In 1754 he became organist of Milan Cathedral, and together with other contemporaries such as Luigi Boccherini he was a pupil of Giovanni Battista Sammartini. In those same years the practice of composing symphonies was being consolidated, J.C. Bach was thus among the first to tackle a new vision of orchestral writing, and between the 1950s and 1960s he produced a total of about sixty symphonies and overtures characterized by remarkable expressiveness. The Symphony in G minor belongs to the series of six symphonies in Opus 6 composed in the late 1960s. The setting and structural division into three movements (fast – slow – fast) represent the first conception of the symphony genre, as well as the still-present link with the Baroque concerto. Among the musicians of the Milanese School, it seems that J.C. Bach himself particularly inspired Mozart; the intense color and expressiveness of the writing of the Symphony in G minor certainly exemplify the stylistic traits that determined this inspiration and affinity between the two composers.
Franz Joseph Haydn’s Symphony No. 39 was composed between 1767 and 1768. At that time the composer resided full-time at the Esterházy court, where he produced his works on commission from Prince Paul Anton for mostly private performances reserved for special occasions. No. 39 is one of Haydn’s earliest minor-key symphonies, for this and because of its singularly dark and intense character it was later given the title Sea Storm. It is to all intents and purposes also the first symphony with which the composer approaches his own Sturmerian phase and thus inspired by the motions and affects typical of the Sturm und Drang artistic current. In addition to the innovative search for greater expressive pathos-especially in the first and fourth movements, which are ignited by strong dynamic contrasts-Haydn wanted to experiment with new modes of orchestration with this symphony; for example, he employed four horns, two in B and two in G, in order to exploit them in both the first and fourth movements in G minor and in the Andante and Trio, in E-flat major and B-flat major, respectively (an expedient that would also come into use by composers such as J.C. Bach and Mozart). On an expressive level, this choice also causes the central movements-more related to the Galante and Rococo styles-to have a dark color akin to that of the Allegro assai and the Finale.
The composition of Robert Schumann’s Third Symphony, known as the Renana, dates back to November 1850; the first performance was held on February 6 of the following year under the composer’s direction. The Symphony represents a special union between the classical training and models of the past that inspired Schumann and his innate Romantic spirit, a dichotomy around which the composer had delved much. On the one hand, an orchestral writing at times inspired by the classical symphony-especially Beethoven; on the other, a singular formal structure in five movements and the intention to evoke the Rhineland culture almost by creating a musical fresco of that tradition, of those landscapes. The first movement bears the famous main theme with a rhythm that alternates between double and triple time. The second movement was originally titled Morning on the Rhine; its expression is indeed one of luminous and delicate serenity. The third movement Nicht schnell has a rather intimate and reflective nature, in preparation for the fourth, Feierlich, an adagio with a majestic, solemn and Gothic character with which Schumann wished to pay homage to the consecration of Archbishop von Geissel on September 30, 1850. The Symphony closes with a brilliant and lively Finale that quotes some themes from the first movement giving circularity to the whole.
Ludovica Gelpi
