Lithograph of Robert Schumann / Joseph Kriehuber, 1839

Robert Schumann’s Fourth Symphony has long been a staple in the orchestral repertoire. Its one-movement structure is practically unique among symphonies.

Music history textbooks label most of the nineteenth century as the Romantic era. In fact, Schumann was one of the few composers who identified so completely with literary Romanticism that he described himself as a Romantic composer.

Among other characteristics, Romantic music broke away from the formal restraint of the Classical period. Emotional expression replaced formal structure as the focal point of musical composition.

Following his year of songs (1840), Robert  Schumann turned his attention to orchestral music in 1841. It took him all of four days in January to complete the first draft of his First Symphony. The Gewandhaus Orchestra of Leipzig, with Felix Mendelssohn conducting, presented the premiere to great acclaim on March 31.

Schumann started on his second symphony, which turned out to be his fourth in order of publication, on May 30. The next day, his wife Clara noted in her diary that it would be a symphony in one movement. He completed it during the first week of June and finished the orchestration early in October. Continue reading →