Even though Franz Schmidt's mature music often resembles that of his teacher Anton Bruckner, the Symphony No. 1 in E major is a youthful work that sounds more like the symphonies of Robert Schumann or Felix Mendelssohn, at least in terms of melodic content, developmental procedures, tonal scheme, and orchestration. Yet at over 45 minutes, the size of this symphony certainly approaches the Brucknerian scale, and even though Schmidt hadn't fully absorbed his teacher's style -- that would be evident in the three symphonies to ...
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Even though Franz Schmidt's mature music often resembles that of his teacher Anton Bruckner, the Symphony No. 1 in E major is a youthful work that sounds more like the symphonies of Robert Schumann or Felix Mendelssohn, at least in terms of melodic content, developmental procedures, tonal scheme, and orchestration. Yet at over 45 minutes, the size of this symphony certainly approaches the Brucknerian scale, and even though Schmidt hadn't fully absorbed his teacher's style -- that would be evident in the three symphonies to come -- he certainly understood the grandiose dimensions the symphonic form had acquired and naturally conformed to the expectations of his time. Thus, this post-Romantic piece seems far more ambitious than its modest material warrants, and some of the time sounds like a Romantic pastiche that goes on too long. Still, if that isn't a stumbling block for listeners, there are many passages of great beauty and originality that promise better things to come in Schmidt's output. The...
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