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.”