The Vancouver Island Symphony presents Franz Peter Schubert’s Great Symphony this coming weekend.
The performances will be held at Nanaimo’s Port Theatre, playing at both 5 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., on Saturday, April 30.
According to a release issued by the Vancouver Island Symphony, Schubert’s Symphony No. 9 in C major is known as ‘the Great,’ originally called so to distinguish it from his Symphony No. 6, the Little C major.
“Unusually long for a symphony of its time, a typical performance lasts an hour when all repeats indicated in the score are taken. The symphony was not professionally performed until a decade after Schubert’s death. Orchestras of the day found it to be very difficult because of its lengthy woodwind and string parts,” read the release. “Schubert scholars believe that his ninth symphony was largely written in 1825-1826 and was then revised for performance in 1828.”
In the release, Pierre Simard, artistic director of the Vancouver Island Symphony, said he has wanted to program the piece into the group’s repertoire for many years.
“It is such a difficult piece to fit into a regular two-part symphony performance – it is a full hour long. It bears a question of timing and repertoire balance, as it becomes difficult to squeeze a soloist in… Our current format of one-hour shows was the perfect occasion to celebrate this amazing creation,” he said.
Schubert was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras and is ranked among the greatest composers in the history of Western music, the release noted. He wrote more than 1,500 works, including eight orchestral overtures and seven complete symphonies. Approximately 630 of his compositions are songs written for solo voice and piano.
READ MORE: Nanaimo’s Vancouver Island Symphony announces 2021-22 season
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