Submitted by Alan R. Kay, May 7, 2007 09:05

I'm sorry that Mr. Nordlinger did not appreciate our approach to the opening of this great Schumann work. I believe that this opening, along with a few other spots in the symphony, exemplifies the composer's recent fascination with Bachian counterpoint, coming as a result of Schumann's so-called "cure from counterpoint" following one of his many bouts with illness and his disappointment at having been passed over for the Gewandhaus position Mendelssohn had just vacated. In the very beginning, the dignified and stately chorale (which recurs "Da Vinci Code-ishly" throughout the symphony), chanted softly in the brass section with a carefully constructed countrapuntal line in the strings, seems to me a model of solemnity. When the winds finally enter, though still partaking of this solemn mood, we hear a hint of the more quintessentially Romantic Schumann, but only slightly! Still later, he marks up the tempo a bit, and the music takes on more increased pathos and yearning, gradually building to the fast exposition, when the joyful and jubilant main theme bursts forth. The introduction, which contains all the elements of the movement as a whole (and some for the entire work), therefore can be seen as a remarkable progression from stately to jubilant, which is what we attempted to bring out. Perhaps we were not so successful! But in any case this is what we sought to do. -Alan R. Kay, Program Coordinator and Co-Principal Clarinetist, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra

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