The Symphony in F, Op. 40, is the only symphony by 20th-century Austrian composer Erich Wolfgang Korngold, although as a teenager in 1912 he had written a Sinfonietta, his Op. 5. The symphony was completed in 1952 and dedicated to the memory of American president Franklin D. Roosevelt, who had died seven years earlier. The work reuses various themes from the composer's film scores, including the 1939 film The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex.
Performance and reception The work's premiere on Austrian radio on October 17, 1954, by the Vienna Symphony Orchestra under Harold Byrns was described as "poorly rehearsed and performed."American Composers Orchestra In 1959 Dimitri Mitropoulos wrote: "All my life I have searched for the perfect modern work. In this symphony I have found it. I shall perform it the next season." Then Mitropoulos's death intervened, and in fact the symphony did not enjoy its first concert outing until November 27, 1972, in Munich under Rudolf Kempe.Composers Datebook It was, however, aired several times on European radio.
More recently the work has entered the repertoire with a number of CD recordings,Surveyed by Ian Lace on MusicWeb International. Retrieved July 7, 2011. and the score has been published by Schott Musik in their Eulenburg Series.Korngold: Symphony in F# https://en.schott-music.com/shop/symphony-in-f-no47652.html Retrieved January 2, 2021
Structure The symphony lasts about 50 minutes and is in four movements:
Instrumentation The work calls for a large orchestra: 3 flutes (3rd doubling piccolo), 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, bass clarinet, 2 bassoons, double bassoon, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 4 trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion (3 players are handling: bass drum, cymbals, gong, glockenspiel, marimba, xylophone), harp, piano (doubling celesta) and strings.
Recordings John Mauceri – Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana – Supertrain Records Werner Andreas Albert – Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie – cpo Marc Albrecht – Orchestre philharmonique de Strasbourg – Pentatone Sir Edward Downes – BBC Philharmonic – Chandos Rudolf Kempe – Munich Philharmonic – RCA André Previn – London Symphony Orchestra – DGG James DePreist – Oregon Symphony – Delos John Storgårds – Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra – Ondine Timothy Vernon – McGill Symphony Orchestra – McGill Franz Welser-Möst – Philadelphia Orchestra – EMI John Wilson – Sinfonia of London – Chandos
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