Symphonies Nos. 8 & 9Paperback, 10 July 1997

The least schooled of the great German musicians, Franz Schubert (1797-1828) amply compensated for his lack of formal training with his keen musical intuition and limitless melodic invention. Remarkably prolific in the course of his short life, Schubert's output included hundreds of songs, a large number of piano works, and nine symphonies. This volume comprises two of his greatest and best-loved orchestral works.
Although it consists of only two movements, Schubert's Unfinished Symphony is one of the composer's most popular compositions, cherished for the quiet intimacy of its emotion and its beautiful melody. Symphony No. 9, composed in the final year of Schubert's life, is his ultimate masterpiece -- a vast work with extensive development and great breadth of musical ideas. It, too, is a familiar fixture in the orchestral repertoire. Both works exhibit the composer's characteristic resources of lyric beauty, understated power, and poetic expression.
These remarkable symphonies appear here in full score with original instrumentation and bar-numbered movements. Ideal for study in the classroom, at home, or in the concert hall, this affordable, high-quality, conveniently sized volume will be the edition of choice for music students and music lovers alike.