Symphony No. 4 (Hartmann) Explained

The Fourth Symphony of the German composer Karl Amadeus Hartmann is a work for string orchestra. It was completed in 1946-7.

It was derived in part from an earlier Concerto for strings and soprano written in 1938. Hartmann revised the work to include a new purely instrumental third and closing movement, marked Adagio appassionato. The second movement, Adagio di molto, risoluto, contains several references to Hartmann's own First String Quartet of 1933.[1] A typical performance lasts around 33 minutes.

The work was premiered in this form by the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra under Hans Rosbaud[2] in Munich on 2 April 1948, chronologically before the premiere of his Third Symphony.[3]

Notes and References

  1. Jaschinski, A. (1999) Hartmann: Symphonies 1-8, liner notes to EMI 5 56911 2
  2. Web site: 4. Symphonie. schott-music.com.
  3. Book: Rickards, Guy. Hindemith, Hartmann and Henze. 1995. Phaidon. 9780714831749 .