From the Archives: The Hertz Era

The Symphony's recorded history begins in 1925, as the eminent German maestro Alfred Hertz (1872–1942) brought his orchestra into the recording studio for its first sessions. Hertz's 24 recordings with the San Francisco Symphony have been treasured collector's items for generations, until recently all but inaccessible. This episode brings the sound of the 1920s San Francisco Symphony back to life for modern listeners.

From the Archives: An Overview

The Symphony’s legacy on records is vast. This first episode provides an introductory overview of the whole. Along the way, we’ll learn about some of the challenges of assembling a complete collection of the Symphony’s surviving recordings, and explore the impact of evolving audio technology on the San Francisco Symphony.

Wagner's Götterdämmerung

Wagner, taking inspiration from Nordic mythology, wrote the Ring Cycle to tell the epic tale of the magical golden ring of the Nibelung.  Granting its owner the power to rule the world, the ring is coveted by many, including Wotan, the ruler of the Gods.  The saga of the ring is chronicled in four operas--Das Rheingold, Die Walküre, Siegfried, and Götterdämmerung. This final opera opens as morning dawns on the lovers Siegfried and Brünnhilde , continues to his betrayal of her in pursuit of the ring, and finally ends with Brünnhilde’s Immolation, when she casts herself on the fire of Siegfried’s funeral pyre to rid the ring of its curse and return it to the Rhine Maidens, its rightful owners.

Brahms's Piano Quartet (orch. Schoenberg)

Although his own compositional techniques are considered avant garde, Arnold Schoenberg viewed himself as a direct extension of the German tradition of Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, and Brahms.  He was 22 when Brahms died, and his particular affinity for Brahms’ Piano Quartet No. 1 led him to the task of orchestrating the work in 1937.  In a letter to the San Francisco Symphony’s program annotator, he stated his reasons: he liked it, it was seldom played, and he wanted to be able to hear all the parts.  He vowed to remain strictly within Brahms’ style and to use only elements he believed Brahms would have; the results are a work that is a co-authorship of peers.

Brahms's German Requiem

Although not a conventionally religious man, Johannes Brahms knew his Bible well and assembled the text for his German Requiem himself, choosing passages that suited his means perfectly. By titling it the German Requiem, Brahms meant that it was for the German people, in a language that they could understand—he also mentioned in his letters an alternate title of the Human Requiem.  Although technically a mass for the dead, the work does not mention death until the penultimate movement, and even then addresses the living with a sense of reassured faith rather than anxiety.

Schubert's "Death and the Maiden" (arr. Mahler)

Years before there was Photoshop, there was Gustav Mahler, and his infamous "retouchings" of respected scores to bring them up to modern listening standards. Known in his day more as a conductor than a composer, Mahler would make revisions to the music he was performing—an instrument added here, a note changed there—ideas that were not always popular with listeners. However, in the case of Schubert’s Quartet in D Minor, Death and the Maiden, a theme and variations on his lieder of the same name, the work definitely remains more Schubert’s. Mahler reinforced the bass line, changed double stops into rich string textures, and brought this intimate chamber work into the large concert hall. This podcast uses a recording of the original quartet, performed by SFS musicians Sarn Oliver and Amy Hiraga, violins; Nanci Severance, viola; and Peter Wyrick, cello.

Verdi's Requiem

In mid-nineteenth century Italy, Alessandro Manzoni, a poet and humanist, was one of the central figures in Italian cultural life.  Not only was he a great writer, but he had been elected to the first Senate of the new Kingdom of Italy in 1861. Upon his death, in 1873, the country entered a period of national mourning.  Giuseppe Verdi, having not yet written much of anything other than opera, volunteered his services to compose a Requiem mass.  He offered the public not a strictly liturgical work but a concert piece, and it was greeted with applause both at its premiere in Milan’s St. Marco Cathedral and at its second performance, three days later, at La Scala.

Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition

Originally composed for solo piano (and later orchestrated by Ravel), Pictures at an Exhibition was written by Modest Mussorgsky after he visited a retrospective exhibit of the works of his friend Victor Hartmann.  The collection of pieces represents a promenade from painting to painting, pausing in front of works called The Gnome, Ancient Castle, and Great Gate of Kiev.  Mussorgsky was a member of a nationalistic, anti-conservatory group of young musicians, and he had an unusual ability to interpret visual art in musical expression.

Elgar's Symphony No. 1

Born the son of a piano tuner and educated by playing in and conducting small amateur bands (including that of the Worcester Pauper Lunatic Asylum), Sir Edward Elgar had already written the Enigma variations, four Pomp and Circumstance marches, and the oratorio Dream of Gerontius before composing his Symphony No. 1 in 1908 at the age of fifty.  While his colleagues Vaughan Williams and Holst encouraged a return to folk music, Elgar’s Symphony No. 1 pushed English music into the romanticism of the rest of the European community, and earned Elgar the nickname “the English Mahler.”

Mahler Symphony No. 3

In summer 1895, Gustav Mahler went on vacation.  He’d had a busy year conducting in Hamburg, and went to his cabin to do what he always did in his free time—compose.  He outlined a program for his new work—Pan’s awakening, the Bacchic entrance of summer—but leaves the movement titles out of the program.  In this Symphony No. 3, the largest and longest in the current symphonic repertoire, he leaves the story up to the listener—according to Mahler, “you just have to bring along ears and a heart and—not least—willingly surrender to the rhapsodist.”

Brahms's Symphony No. 1

Beethoven’s first symphony premiered when he was 30. Schubert wrote his first at 16, and Mozart’s was composed when he was only 8.  But Johannes Brahms, at 43, had yet to finish his Symphony No. 1, which he’d begun writing more than twenty years previously. A notorious perfectionist, he burned many of his early works and sketches; it was not easy living in the shadow of the giants before him. His many years of preparation were worth it—upon the work’s premiere in 1876, the Vienna press called it “Beethoven’s Tenth.”    

Beethoven's 'Missa Solemnis'

To set about composing his Missa Solemnis, Beethoven looked to the past. He obtained a copy of the score to J.S. Bach's B Minor Mass, at that time still unpublished, and also studied the sacred music of C.P.E. Bach. After countless sketches and spiritual preparation, Beethoven composed this work for large orchestra and chorus, dedicating more time to it than to any other work he composed. Written simultaneously with the Symphony No. 9, the Missa Solemnis is considered one of the most significant mass settings in classical music.

Mahler's Symphony No. 6

In summer 1903, Mahler was at his happiest time of life.  Married to the beautiful Alma and father to two healthy daughters, it doesn’t seem like the time when one would compose a symphony often called the Tragic.  However, in an eerily prescient stroke, this is exactly what Mahler does.  In the years that followed, Mahler suffered the death of a child, the loss of his position in Vienna, and learned of his debilitating heart disease—three blows of fate predicted by the blows of the drum that fell the Hero at the close of Symphony No. 6.

Mahler's Symphony No. 9

Almost exactly one hundred years ago, on May 18, 1911, the great composer and conductor Gustav Mahler died of a blood infection just weeks before his fifty-first birthday.  His last complete work, the Symphony No. 9, was composed following a whirlwind period of great loss and supreme achievement, including the composition of his “symphony without a number,” Das Lied von der Erde.  Symphony No. 9 reaches the greatest apex of Mahler’s compositional catalogue, exhibiting his characteristic subtle transition, expansion, and continuous variation at their fullest.

Berlioz's "Symphonie fantastique"

A man spots a woman across the room at a party and falls instantly in love with her. In a fit of despair over his unrequited love, he poisons himself and fantastic dreams and visions result. This is the story, inspired by his own love for the actress Harriet Smithson, that Hector Berlioz portrays in his Symphonie fantastique, premiered in 1830. Using recurring musical motifs to represent characters and brand new instrumental colors, Berlioz worked on foundations laid by Beethoven to bring music fully into the Romantic era.

Vaughan Williams's Symphony No. 2, "A London Symphony"

In 1903, Ralph Vaughan Williams began collecting folk songs. His dedication to his English heritage was evident early on in his career, from his editions of Purcell’s music for the Purcell Society to his assembling, editing, and contributing to The English Hymnal. It is fitting, then, that his first instrumental symphony should be called A London Symphony. Vaughan Williams's Symphony No. 2 is inspired by the vibrant city life of London, and has been described as the musical equivalent of Claude Monet’s paintings of the sun rising over the foggy Thames.

Sibelius's Symphony No. 2

At the close of the nineteenth century, Finnish natives were enjoying a renaissance of their native culture, in opposition to their Russian occupiers. Jean Sibelius was swept up in this nationalistic fervor, and composed several patriotic tone poems, including Finlandia. Symphony No. 2, misinterpreted at its premiere as a commentary on the Finnish political conflict, was composed mostly in Italy, where Sibelius was renting a studio. Working with fragments and sketches intended for four separate tone poems, Sibelius then assembled the pieces into this full-fledged symphony.

Bach’s Mass in B minor

Bach’s Mass in B minor can viewed as a compendium of all of the musical styles in which the composer was fluent. The work encompasses many different styles popular in the Baroque era, including polyphonic choral textures, instrumental solos, and operatic aria solos for the vocalists. A work of huge scale, it is unlikely that Bach ever heard the Mass performed in its entirety. Composed at intervals throughout his life and finally compiled into a complete work just before his death, the B minor Mass stands as an embodiment of Bach’s genius.

Mendelssohn's Symphony No. 4

On an extended journey through Italy in 1830 and 1831, Felix Mendelssohn began work on his Fourth Symphony.  A wildly talented composer who wrote his famous Octet when he was only sixteen, Mendelssohn was prompted to finish the work when the London Philharmonic Society requested a symphony from him (and offered payment of a hundred guineas). Mendelssohn called it the jolliest music he had ever composed. Although he remained dissatisfied with the symphony and planned numerous revisions, the Italian Symphony still stands as one of his most easily recognizable works.

Brahms's Serenade

In 1857, Johannes Brahms assumed the post of Clara Schumann, recently departed for Berlin, as piano teacher at the court of Prince Leopold.  His pupils and members of his choir loved him, and at the court he reveled in his time to compose, conduct, and study the repertory.  It also afforded him a period of cooling off following the death of his mentor Robert Schumann, and allowed him to work towards his great goal of composing symphonies.  This first Serenade was called a “Symphony-Serenade” by Joseph Joachim, and is a fresh, inventive, and spirited work.

Mozart's Requiem

Mystery and myth surround Mozart’s Requiem.  It was left uncompleted at the composer’s somewhat sudden death, and no one quite knows exactly how much music he left behind.  His widow, Constanze, was set with the task of finding another composer to complete the work, while still promoting it as a Mozart composition (in order to receive the full commission fee).  After Joseph Eyeler, one of Mozart’s students, was unable to complete the Requiem, Franz Xaver Süssmayr, another former student, finally completed a working version, which stands as the most popular of the many versions still performed today.

Mozart's Symphony No. 33

Throughout Mozart’s childhood, his father Leopold paraded him around the courts of Europe in the hope of gaining the boy’s employment, and therefore a steady cash flow for his family.  After many years of traveling, he was hired for a full time position in their hometown of Salzburg.  In spring 1779, Mozart met a traveling theater troupe that performed many of his operas and symphonies.  It’s likely that this Symphony No. 33, which Mozart composed while employed at the court at Salzburg, was meant as just that: an overture to a theatrical production.

Prokofiev's Symphony No. 1

Following encouragement from his teacher to immerse himself in the works of Mozart and Haydn, Sergei Prokofiev composed his Symphony No. 1, Classical, in 1916-17.  Harkening back to his forbears in the realms of form and structure while using the expanded harmonic language of his contemporaries, Prokofiev for the first time composed away from the piano keyboard, lending a more compact and transparent orchestral sound to the work.  Written just before the composer left Russia following the abdication of the Tsar and Lenin’s ascent to power, the Classical symphony foreshadowed the neoclassicism of the 1920s and became one of the composer’s most frequently performed works. 

Schubert's Symphony No. 5

At 17, Schubert composed his art song masterpiece Gretchen am Spinnrade. The following year, he composed more than 145 more, including Erlkönig. By the time he reached age 19, in 1816, he had already composed a treasure trove of art songs and instrumental sonatas in addition to his first four symphonies. Following a series of personal setbacks, including receiving no response after sending Goethe a packet of songs based on his poems, Schubert composed his Fifth Symphony. Mozart’s Symphony No. 40 in G minor, one of only two he wrote in a minor key, was one of Schubert’s favorites, and is echoed in the fiery minuet movement.

Beethoven's Symphony No. 1

Arriving in Vienna in 1792, with a stack of music he’d composed in Bonn, young Beethoven settled down to study composition with Josef Haydn. By the time he premiered his first symphony in 1800, he had already published an impressive catalogue, including 10 piano sonatas, two cello sonatas, three violin sonatas, five string trios, and six string quartets. Symphony No. 1 opens on a dissonant chord and includes featured wind solos and a third movement scherzo, all reflecting  a musical personality that foreshadows Beethoven’s impending departure from his Classical education

Beethoven's Symphony No. 4

In summer 1806, Beethoven had to give up his summer vacation home in order to pay off his and his family’s debts.  Despite the financial turmoil, the year was an extraordinarily productive one for him: the composer wrote many of his great works in that year, including the Razumovsky string quartets, the revision of what became Fidelio (including the Leonore Overture No. 3), the Fourth Piano Concerto, and the Fourth and Fifth Symphonies.  The Fourth Symphony, often overshadowed by the Third and the Fifth, is perhaps his least frequently performed symphony.  The work is a return to the grace and relative simplicity of Beethoven’s earlier classical style.  At the middle of the second movement stands an episode that distinguished musical analyst Donald Francis Tovey called “one of the most imaginative passages anywhere in Beethoven.”