When I give the world premiere performances of Marcel Tyberg’s two movement completion to Schubert’s Unfinished Symphony with the Phoenix Symphony this week, I realize I am heading toward those inevitable questions that dog any effort to take a known gem and offer a fill for a curious crack.
Is the crack, or in this case, the lacking two movements of Schubert’s Symphony No. 8 worth worrying about? Perhaps the mystery of what those possible movements would have sounded like if he had continued work on the piece is sufficient?
Trust me, from the moment Tyberg’s music arrived I asked myself all of these questions and more. I even wondered whether I wanted to put myself out there as the proponent of such an effort. Of course I want to, and I am!
What listeners will hear is a sublime and remarkable composition that is modeled with utter perfection on Schubert’s symphonic style at the time. Getting the proportions right is incredibly important with Schubert. He has a very personal way of holding onto a phrase or thought and when it comes to harmonic motion and activity, there is a definite stamp that has to be handled right. And still, one has to attend so carefully to Schubert’s lyricism that we all hold so dear.
I think this is a keeper and my friends in Boulder will hear it this summer at the Colorado Music Festival and the Atlanta Symphony audiences will hear it in April 2012.
The picture below is the first page of Tyberg’s completion. His mother was his copyist. Incredible care given to every note.
The rest of the program is fun, too. John Corigliano’s Salute was written as a “welcome to Brooklyn” fanfare for me in 2005. Get your kazoos warmed up!
I have a thing for Bruckner, I must admit. The repetition in the symphonies drives some people nuts but it can be handled in such a way to transcend that trait. The sacred choral music on the other hand takes performer and listener alike to a completely different place. I am over the moon to be working on this great e minor Mass.
