Schubert Symphony No. 8, "Unfinished"
There are many reasons why Schubert\u2019s Unfinished Symphony remains a mystery to this day - \xa0the literally unfinished form, the unusual way of the symphony's emergencee into public consciousness, and probably most importantly, the character of the music itself, which seems to inhabit a different realm altogether, whether in its brooding first movement or the heavenly second movement.\xa0 When Schubert\u2019s half-finished symphony was discovered, it had been sitting in a drawer of the minor composer Anselm Huttenbrenner for 43 years, unmissed and unheard by anyone.\xa0 The score was discovered by the conductor Johann von Herbeck.\xa0 Herbeck naturally considered the moment where he first held the score unforgettable, quickly organized a performance, and 37 years after Schubert\u2019s death, the Unfinished symphony was heard for the first time.\xa0 But, the truth is that the fact that the symphony is unfinished isn\u2019t really that special.\xa0 Composers started and failed to finish works all the time, whether they were songs, symphonies, operas, cantatas, or something else.\xa0 Most of those pieces are either ignored or are regarded as interesting curiosities by none but the most hardcore classical music lovers.\xa0 So why is this one different?\xa0 Why do these two movements rank up there with Bach\u2019s Art of Fugue, Bruckner\u2019s 9th symphony, Mozart\u2019s Requiem and C Minor Mass, as pieces that are still performed today despite their unfinished nature.\xa0 Today, we\u2019re going to find out.\xa0 We\u2019ll explore the two existing movements of the symphony, take a look at the fragment of the third movement that Schubert started, stopped, and then tore out of the score, and also the speculative last movement, theorized by some enterprising musicologists.\xa0 But all along, we\u2019ll marvel at Schubert\u2019s lyricism, his endless creativity, and the powerful character of this unique symphony. Join us!