'Leif' insurance for Schubert?

Synopsis

There’s an old joke that Schubert wrote two symphonies: one unfinished, and the other endless — the reference being to Schubert’s Unfinished Symphony which lasts about 20 minutes, and his Great Symphony, which can run about an hour in performance.

It was Antonio Salieri, one of Schubert’s composition teachers in Vienna, who encouraged the young composer to date his manuscripts, so we know the Unfinished Symphony was written in 1822. It wasn't performed in public, however, until December 17th, 1865 — 43 years later. The manuscript was known to exist, but no one bothered much about it until Josef von Herbeck tracked it down and conducted its first performance in Vienna.

At its premiere, Herbeck added the last movement of Schubert’s Symphony No. 3 as a kind of makeshift finale. Many others have tried to finish the Unfinished Symphony, but more often than not, it is performed as an incomplete, yet oddly satisfying, work.

Icelandic composer Jon Leifs, who died in 1968, apparently worried that he might leave some unfinished orchestral score behind. Therefore, he composed not one but two works he titled Finale. These were intended as a kind of “musical insurance policy.” To each score, Leifs attached a note suggesting that if he died and left behind any unfinished orchestral projects, either of these two Finales could be used.

Music Played in Today's Program

Franz Schubert (1797-1828): Symphony No. 9; Berlin Philharmonic; Karl Böhm, conductor; DG 419 318

Jón Leifs (1899-1968): Fine I and Fine II; Iceland Symphony; Petri Sakari, conductor; Chandos 9433

On This Day

Births

• 1749 - Italian composer Domenico Cimarosa, in Aversa

• 1894 - American conductor Arthur Fiedler, in Boston

• 1904 - Soviet composer Dimtri Kabalevsky, in St. Petersburg (Gregorian date: Dec. 30)

Deaths

• 1562 - Flemish composer Adrian Willaert, 72, in Venice

• 1870 - Italian composer Giuseppe Saverio Mercadante, 75, in Naples

• 1930 - British composer Peter Warlock (Philip Heseltine), 36, dies by suicide in London

Premieres

• 1737 - Handel: anthem The Ways of Zion do Mourn in London at King Henry VII’s Chapel in Westminster Abbey, during the funeral service for Queen Caroline, a major patroness of Handel’s (Gregorian date: Dec. 28)

• 1853 - Brahms: Piano Sonata No. 1, and Scherzo, at the Gewandhaus in Leipzig, by the composer at his public debut during a chamber concert of the David Quartet

• 1865 - Schubert: Symphony No. 8 (Unfinished) in Vienna, Johann von Herbeck conducting. For this performance, the last movement of Schubert's Symphony No. 3 was appended as a finale.

• 1879 - Dvorák: String Quartet No. 10, in Prague

• 1887 - Rimsky-Korsakov: Capriccio Espagnol, in St. Petersburg, by the Russian Symphony, with the composer conducting (see Julian date: Dec. 5)

• 1937 - Miaskovsky: Symphony No. 17, in Moscow

• 1953 - Shostakovich: Symphony No. 10, by the Leningrad Philharmonic, Yevgeny Mravinsky conducting

• 1954 - Persichetti: Symphony No. 4, by the Philadelphia Orchestra, Eugene Ormandy conducting