Schubert's Great C Major

Book excerpt: Schubert is known to everyone as the composer of many of the world's finest songs, but he also excelled as a composer of abundant instrumental music during his short life. The Symphony in C major, D944, is his last and, in the opinion of many, his greatest work for orchestra. This short book surveys the symphony's historical background in the context of Schubert's orchestral works from his earliest years as a composer as well as its performance history, and offers a detailed formal and tonal analysis of each of its four movements. Music students, professional scholars, and ordinary listeners alike will find this book a valuable guide to one of the most beloved symphonies of all time. Mark DeVoto, professor emeritus of Music at Tufts University, has published extensively on the music of Alban Berg and Claude Debussy (Debussy and the Veil of Tonality: Essays On His Music, Pendragon Press, 2004), and edited the revised 4th and 5th editions of Walter Piston's Harmony, an essential textbook. He lives in Medford, Massachusetts.