Symphony No. 8 in B minor, D. 759 ‘Unfinished’

• Schubert, Franz

Franz Schubert (1797-1828) composed the first two complete movements (and two pages at the beginning of the scherzo) in 1822. We only know that it existed, perhaps, because Schubert gifted them to his friend Anselm Hüttenbrenner in 1823 after the Graz Music Society, of which Hüttenbrenner was leading member, gave the young composer an honorary diploma. The work languished for years, seemingly forgotten by everyone, until Anselm’s younger brother Josef discovered it in 1860, at which point he began to badger the Viennese conductor Johann von Herbeck to perform this miracle on par “with any of Beethoven’s.” Following another five-year delay, Herbeck finally gave the premiere on December 17, 1865, conducting the Musikvereinssaal in Vienna. No one can say why Schubert did not finish the work as he lived six years beyond 1822 and composed a great deal of other music in the intervening years between that and his death. The unusual history has resulted in some confusion over the title of the work. While most refer to it as Symphony No. 8 in B minor, D. 759, it is also sometimes numbered as Symphony No. 7 while Symphony No. 8 is reserved for what is otherwise known as Symphony No. 9 in C Major (“Great”). To avoid confusion, many just refer to it as the “Unfinished Symphony.” Instrumentation: 2.2.2.2: 2.2.3.0: Timp: Str (9-8-7-6-5 in set).

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