Robert Schumann, Symphony No.1 op.38 in B flat major (Spring Symphony)

Robert Schumann, born on 8 June 1810 in Zwickau, died in Endenich on 29 July 1856, was a writer and composer. He is best known for his piano compositions.

Although Schumann was already toying with the idea of composing a symphony at the age of 19, he initially wrote piano works and songs. The Symphony in G minor, begun in 1832/33, remained unfinished. Schumann composed his first complete symphony in just four days in January 1841, a few months after marrying Clara Wieck. The work was "born in a fiery hour", according to Schumann himself, "in that springtime urge that carries people away into old age and overtakes them anew every year", and thus bears the title "Spring Symphony". Nevertheless, the title of the symphony is not only related to the season, but also symbolises a new beginning in a person's life.

The call that is heard in the brass at the beginning of the slow introduction is based on a line of poetry by Böttcher: "Spring is coming in the valley." The first theme of the first movement develops from this "spring theme", and the melody of the slow second movement is also based on it. In the third movement - as in the final movement - the fanfare-like character of the "spring theme" is recognisable in some places, and its rhythmic elements are also used. The 'spring theme' thus defines the character of the entire symphony.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Titus Overture, K. 621

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, born in Salzburg on 27 January 1756, died in Vienna on 5 December 1791, wrote the first of his 19 operas at the age of eleven. The opera "La Clemenza di Tito" ("The Mildness of Titus") is one of Mozart's later operas and was composed at around the same time as the famous "Magic Flute" in just 19 days. It was premiered in Prague on 6 September 1791 to mark the coronation of Leopold II as King of Bohemia.

The opera seria in two acts follows the usual operatic scheme and is thematically appropriate for the occasion: after Titus has been crowned emperor, the daughter of his murdered predecessor incites her lover to rebel, but this fails. Titus forgives his adversaries and allows leniency to prevail.

Like all of Mozart's other opera overtures, the Titus overture is not a mere mood introduction to the stage action, but a self-contained, autonomous work of art with its own ideas and subject matter, albeit with a reference to the opera and the occasion for its composition. The instrumentation and key (C major), for example, emphasise the festivity of the coronation act.

The opening bars of the piece with their fanfare-like character follow the etiquette of the seria overture. Relics of the French overture are recognisable in the dotted note values and the fermatas. The piece can be divided into exposition (with introduction of the themes), development (with development of the themes and modulations), recapitulation (thematic repetition of the exposition) and coda (final turn), i.e. it is in sonata form. The Titus overture is therefore described by some authors as an extremely condensed form of the symphony.

Mauro Giuliani, Concerto No. 1 in A major for guitar and strings op. 30

Mouro Giuliani was born in Barletta (Bari) in 1781 and died in Naples on 8 May 1829. The Italian singer, guitarist and composer worked as a virtuoso and music teacher in Vienna from 1807 to 1819 and subsequently travelled to England, Russia and Italy. Giuliana invented the "chitarra di terza", whose strings are tuned a third higher than those of the ordinary guitar. He composed almost exclusively works for and with guitar.

(Texts: Maike Kramer)