Franz Schubert in the Maltese Chapel

Franz Schubert in the Maltese Chapel.

Conductor – Anton Lubchenko.

“They sang Schubert to us,” wrote Osip Mandelstam in one of his poems. The poet captured with amazing precision one of the main features of the artistic style of the romantic composer – songfulness.

In less than thirty-two years of his earthly life, Schubert managed to do an extraordinary amount: his legacy consists of a large number of works for piano (including sonatas, fantasies, impromptu, musical moments), as well as chamber-instrumental works (including string quartets and the piano quintet “Trout”), choral miniatures and cantatas, operas and symphonies.

However, the main place is occupied by songs, which for the first time in musical history are the quintessence of the composer’s style. The influence of the song genre can be traced in almost all the works created by Schubert, whose work continues to enchant with its sincerity, soulfulness and touching lyricism.

The Eighth Symphony, called "Unfinished" (the work has two parts, not four), which is rightfully considered a masterpiece of world musical culture, came from the pen of Schubert six years before his death. The composer, who stood at the origins of the creation of the romantic symphony, extremely convincingly embodied on the pages of the score the lyrical and psychological drama of an imaginary hero (possibly himself). Piercing drama, tender lyricism and danceability are combined by Schubert in the Eighth Symphony so organically that many composers of the subsequent time, including Pyotr Tchaikovsky and Gustav Mahler, drew ideas and inspiration from this music.

PERFORMERS:

Governor's Symphony Orchestra of St. Petersburg

Artistic Director and Conductor – Anton Lubchenko

Franz Schubert

Symphony No. 8 ("Unfinished") in B minor, D 759

Malta Chapel of the Vorontsov Palace (St. Petersburg), 2024