Palace Concerts

Artists

Joven Orquesta Nacional de España

James Conlon, conductor

Programme

The Last Romanticism

Robert Schumann (1810-1856)

Symphony No. 4 in D minor, Op. 120 (1841. Rev. 1851)

Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)

Symphony No. 4 in E minor, Op. 98 (1884-1885)

In co-production with the Centro Nacional de Difusión Musical

Symphonies Between Friends

On October 1, 1853, Robert Schumann wrote in his diary: “Visit of Brahms, a genius.” From that moment until the death of Schumann three years later, a close friendship would unite the two composers, followers of the Beethovenian symphonic art, the spiritual father of both. Each of them would end up writing four symphonies, and it is precisely the last ones that come together in this program. Schumann’s Fourth is in fact the second one he composed (in 1841), although he revised it ten years later and it ended up being released in 1853, precisely the year of his first meeting with Brahms. With the Beethovenian and Schumanian lesson learnt and showing off his perfectionist obsession, Brahms began to work on his first symphony in 1854, but he would not premiere it until 1876. His Fourth, released in 1885, is the culmination and glory of the whole German Romanticism.