Symphony No. 9 in C Major, D. 944 ‘The Great’

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Franz Schubert wrote his final symphony in 1826. The 60 minutes, unusually long piece for its time, is listed as Symphony No. 8 in the New Schubert Edition, was first performed ten years after Schubert’s death in 1828. Robert Schumann was shown the manuscript of the Symphony when he visited Vienna in 1838. He took a copy of it to Leipzig where it was performed at the Gewandhaus on 21 March 1839, with Felix Mendelssohn as its conductor. Subsequently, several orchestras in Paris and London refused to play it due to its extremely lengthy woodwind and string parts. Often considered to be Schubert’s finest orchestral music, it is one of the composer’s most innovative pieces with far more emphasis on melody. 

Here are four albums:

Schubert: Symphonies Nos. 8 ‘Unfinished’ & 9 ‘The Great.’ Herbert Blomstedt with Gewandhausorchester. Release Date: 8 Jul 2022. Label: Deutsche Grammophon.

Schubert: The Great C Major Symphony. Claudio Abbado with Orchestra Mozart. Release Date: 1 Jun 2015. Label: Deutsche Grammophon.

Schubert: 8 Symphonies. Karl Bohm with Berliner Philharmoniker. Release Date: 1 May 2001. Label” Deutsche Grammophon.

​Franz Schubert: Symphonies. Nikolaus Harnoncourt with Berliner Philharmoniker. Release Date: 22 Sept 2017. Label: Berliner Philharmoniker.

Reference: (2014). Schwarm, B. Symphony No. 9 in C Major, Work by Schubert. Britannica.
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Symphony-No-9-in-C-Major