Fritz Reiner/CSO - Schubert: Symphony No.8 "Unfinished" (1961) 24-Bit/96-kHz Vinyl Rip

The B-Minor Symphony is a fee, almost rhapsodic outpouring of Schubertean song. On the other hand, its companion on this disc - the Symphony No.5 in B-flat - is by contrast in the elegant, polished form of the classic Mozart Haydn symphony. Last of the four symphonies written during the years 1814-16, it is of all Schubert's early symphonies the one most frequently heard today. By 1816, Beethoven's scherzo had virtually doomed the minuet as the standard third movement of a symphony; but the minuet died hard, and Schubert's third movement here is unmistakably a tune for dancing.
The B-Flat Symphony is the product of a man who had heard, and remembered, a great deal of Haydn and Mozart. One may turn up one's nose at its lack of originality, but one can hardly deny its geniality and charm.
( John Briggs )


Track Listing:

1. Schubert: Symphony No.8 in B minor, "Unfinished"
First Movement: Allegro moderato
Second Movement: Andante con moto

2. Schubert: Symphony No.5 in B flat
First Movement: Allegro
Second Movement: Andante con moto
Third Movement: Menuetto: Allegro molto
Fourth Movement: Allegro vivace