Four Centuries of Great Music October 15, 2022 The Symphony Through the Centuries Episode 8

Today on Four Centuries of Great Music we are continuing our series on the Symphony with two under-recognized and under-performed composers and one of the most famous composers of the 19th century.

We open today with English composer Alice Mary Smith wrote her first symphony, the Symphony in C minor  at the age of 24 in 1863.   One could say that her writing was strongly influenced by Mendelssohn and stop there.  But you have to realize that Mendelssohn's  music dominated British music in the Victorian era, So Alice Mary Smith would have been deluged by his music and analysis of his music during her studies.  We must look at the originality she showed in expressing her musical viewpoints and she should be appreciated as a rather successful pioneer in the male-dominated culture, and equal to or exceeding her contemporaries in taste and ability. Indeed, a comparison with other British symphonies of the time will show that Smith was far from ordinary, but began to exceed the conventions every composer in Great Britain observed until the advent of Elgar. At her premature death at only 45 years of age an obituary stated that “Her music is marked by elegance and grace... power and energy. Her forms were always clear and her ideas free from eccentricity”

Her Symphony in C minor is in 4 movements: 1. Allegro, 2. Andante, 3. Allegretto and 4. Allegro.


John Knowles Paine was the first American composer to achieve fame for the composition of large scale symphonic works.  He was the founder of the composers collective referred to as the Boston Six composed of himself, Amy Beach, Arthur Foote, Edward MacDowell, George Chadwick, and Horatio Parker.

His 2nd symphony subtitled “In Spring” was composed in 1879 and was enthusiastically greeted with boisterous hurrahs and handkerchief waiving at its Boston premiere in 1881.  It is in 4 four movements:
1. Adagio sostenuto - "Departure of Winter" Allegro ma non troppo "Awakening of Nature"
2. Scherzo Allegro "May-Night Fantasy"
3. Adagio "A Romance of Springtime"
4. Allegro giojoso "The Glory of Nature”


Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 2 in C minor, Op. 17 was composed in 1872.   It was nicknamed the “Little Russian” because of the use of three Ukrainian folk songs to great effect in this symphony.  Ukraine at the time was often referred to as “Little Russia”.   The Ukrainian folk songs are probably used because it was started while Tchaikovsky was visiting his sister in Ukraine.  It was revised with considerable changes to the first movement and the last movement was shortened in 1879-1880.  

In the first movement marked Andante sostenuto—Allegro vivo, the horn sets the atmosphere of the movement by playing a Ukrainian variant of "Down by Mother Volga". Tchaikovsky reintroduces this song in the development section, and the horn sings it once more at the movement's conclusion. A second theme is introduced (used subsequently by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov in his Russian Easter Festival Overture) leading straight into the development, in which material from both themes is heard. Tchaikovsky does not repeat the first subject theme in its entirety in the recapitulation, as is conventional, but instead uses it solely for the coda.

In the second movement marked Andantino marziale, quasi moderato, the theme was originally a bridal march Tchaikovsky wrote for his unpublished opera Undine. He quotes the folk song "Spin, O My Spinner" in the central section.

In the third movement, marked Scherzo. Allegro molto vivace, Tchaikovsky does not quote an actual folk song but  it sounds folk song-like in its overall character. It takes the form of a da capo scherzo and trio with a coda.

The finale marked Moderato assai—Allegro vivo, after a brief but expansive fanfare, quotes the folk song "The Crane", subjecting it to an increasingly intricate and colorful variations for orchestra. A more lyrical theme from the strings provides contrast. During the development both first and second themes are used. After the recapitulation, the symphony finishes with a colorful and lively coda.

Here is a performance of  Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 2 in C minor, Op. 17 by Lorin Maazel conducting the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra from the album Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 2 in C Minor, Op. 17, TH 25 "Little Russian" - Rimsky-Korsakov: Symphony No. 2 in F-Sharp Minor, Op. 9 “Antar”        Telarc Records

You have been listening to a performance of  Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 2 in C minor, Op. 17 by Lorin Maazel conducting the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra from the album Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 2 in C Minor, Op. 17, TH 25 "Little Russian" - Rimsky-Korsakov: Symphony No. 2 in F-Sharp Minor, Op. 9 “Antar”   

Thank you for joining us today on Four Centuries of Great Music and join us next week as we continue our exploration of the symphony through the centuries