American composer William Schuman's Symphony No. 3 was completed on January 11, 1941,[1] and premiered on October 17 of that year by the Boston Symphony Orchestra conducted by Serge Koussevitsky, to whom it is dedicated.[2]

Instrumentation

The symphony is scored for an orchestra consisting of piccolo (doubling flute), 2 flutes, 2 oboes, cor anglais, clarinet in E♭, 2 clarinets in B♭, bass clarinet, 2 bassoons, 4 horns in F, 4 trumpets in C, 4 trombones, tuba, snare drum, cymbals, bass drum, xylophone, timpani and strings. Third flute (doubling second piccolo), third oboe, third clarinet in B♭, third bassoon, contrabassoon, 4 more horns in F, and piano are also listed as "optional, but very desirable".[3]

Structure

Rather than the usual four movements, the symphony is in two parts, each consisting of two continuous sections in a tempo relation of slow-fast and given titles suggesting Baroque formal practices, though Schuman does not follow these forms strictly:

References

Notes

  1. ↑ The date and place (Larchmont, New York) of completion are printed in the margin on the last page (p. 82) of the score.
  2. ↑ The dedication "For Serge Koussevitsky" appears on p. 1 of the score.
  3. ↑ From the score's "List of Instruments"
  4. ↑ (Letter designations are from the score.)

Further reading

  • Clark, John W., and William Schuman. 1986. "William Schuman on His Symphonies: An Interview" American Music 4, no. 3 (Autumn): 328–36.
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