American composer William Schuman's Symphony No. 3 was completed on January 11, 1941, [1] and premiered on October 17 of that year by the Boston Symphony Orchestra conducted by Serge Koussevitsky, to whom it is dedicated. [2]
Instrumentation
The symphony is scored for an orchestra consisting of piccolo (doubling flute), 2 flutes, 2 oboes, cor anglais, clarinet in E♭, 2 clarinets in B♭, bass clarinet, 2 bassoons, 4 horns in F, 4 trumpets in C, 4 trombones, tuba, snare drum, cymbals, bass drum, xylophone, timpani and strings. Third flute (doubling second piccolo), third oboe, third clarinet in B♭, third bassoon, contrabassoon, 4 more horns in F, and piano are also listed as "optional, but very desirable". [3]
Structure
Rather than the usual four movements, the symphony is in two parts, each consisting of two continuous sections in a tempo relation of slow-fast and given titles suggesting Baroque formal practices, though Schuman does not follow these forms strictly:
- Part I:
- a) Passacaglia
- b) Fugue
- Part II:
References
- Schuman, William (1942). Symphony no. 3 ( score). G. Schirmer
Notes
- ^ The date and place ( Larchmont, New York) of completion are printed in the margin on the last page (p. 82) of the score.
- ^ The dedication "For Serge Koussevitsky" appears on p. 1 of the score.
- ^ From the score's "List of Instruments"
- ^ (Letter designations are from the score.)
Further reading
- Clark, John W., and William Schuman. 1986. "William Schuman on His Symphonies: An Interview" American Music 4, no. 3 (Autumn): 328–36.
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