Symphony in D minor

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SYMPHONIE D-MOLL

SYMPHONY IN D MINOR

SINFONIA IN RE MINORE

With the Symphony in D minor Zemlinsky completed his course of study with J. N. Fuchs. The first three movements were probably composed during the spring semester of 1892, and the finale added later the same year. At an end-of-term concert at the Conservatoire on 11 July, attended by Brahms [evidently this was the occasion on which Zemlinsky and Brahms first met], Zemlinsky conducted the first movement on its own. The complete work was performed on 10 February 1893, again with the orchestra of the Conservatoire, this time conducted by J. N. Fuchs. Seated amongst the rank-and-file of the violin section, presumably on both occasions, was the twelve-year-old George Enescu. Sixty years later, in a series of conversations with Bernard Gavoty (broadcast by Radio France under the title Entretiens), he recalled his years of study in Vienna, spoke in glowing terms of Zemlinsky, then seated himself at the piano and played a substantial extract from the D minor Symphony - by heart.

In a large-scale symphonic work, classical sonata form and developing variation, as Zemlinsky soon discovered, are uneasy bed-fellows. And when a first-movement exposition is itself rich in motivic variation, the scope for further elaboration of the same material in the development section itself is limited. Having exhausted most of the variative possibilities in his exposition, Zemlinsky sustains the momentum of his development section chiefly with histrionic gestures and sequential build-ups. The first-subject reprise is compressed to a mere fifteen bars, underpinned (in the manner of the 'Choral' Symphony) by a forte roll on the timpani, while the second subject returns, in the manner of Schubert, as a literal, undeveloped repetition in the tonic major. After a contracted reprise, the thirty-six-bar coda appears disproportionately long. The Scherzo poses no such structural problems: here Zemlinsky is in his element, relishing abrupt changes of register and dynamic, long crescendos and short, breathless silences.

The Trio, a relaxed landler with a stately, Schubertian climax, furnishes an ideal contrast. Would that the ensuing slow movement, Sehr innig und breit, fulfilled the promise of its opening theme, a fervent adagio worthy of Bruckner, a seamless arch of melody, exquisitely orchestrated and eloquently harmonized. But the second subject is introduced as a stormy tempo doppio, from which the movement never regains equilibrium. Instead of expanding and intensifying the opening theme, Zemlinsky contents himself with a literal reprise decorated by a descant of semiquavers in the violins, a slow-tempo repeat of the second subject and, again, a protracted coda. The fourth movement, too, is notable more for avoiding formal problems than for grappling with them. This is essentially a serenade finale, relaxed, rambling, good-natured and, in its closing pages, unpretentiously bombastic.

Within the limits of classical orchestral style, Zemlinsky demonstrates an innate sense of clarity, colour and blend. Conservatoire students doubtless received dire warnings against imitating Wagner's handling of the brass, and in the first three movements the participation of trumpets, trombones and timpani is minimal. Observing Viennese tradition, Zemlinsky also writes for natural horns and trumpets, but in the finale he abandons this stricture, finds more meaningful contributions for the brass and allows himself the luxury of three timpani. [...]

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