In the throes of his mortal illness, Franz Schubert (1797-1828) heroically
succeeded in putting to paper his splendid last symphony, whose "divine
lengths" are truly unique. Composed in 1825/26, Schubert's largest
symphonic work was first discovered after his death by Robert Schumann and
first performed one year later, in 1839, by Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy in
the Leipzig Gewandhaus. In marked contrast to the equally beloved
"Unfinished" Symphony, Schubert devises a labyrinth of harmonies in a piece
full of artless directness and joyful dance-like rhythms. Echoes of the
visionary secrets of Romanticism surface from the depths of the work, only
to be washed away by the inexorable current of the melodies. Never did
Schubert write with such a lavish and impetuous hand than in his Ninth
Symphony: "...it bears the eternal seed of youth within it." (Robert
Schumann)
Karl Böhm conducts the Wiener Symphoniker in this recording made in the mid
1960s.
