Symphony No. 1 in B flat major, op. 38 ("Spring") was the first symphonic work composed by Robert Schumann. Although Schumann made some "symphonic attempts" in the autumn of 1840, soon after he married his beloved Clara Wieck, he did not compose the symphony until early 1841. Schumann sketched the symphony in four days from 23 January to 26 January and completed the orchestration within a month by 20 February. The premiere took place under the baton of Felix Mendelssohn on 31 March 1841 in Leipzig. The symphony was warmly received. Until Schumann composed this symphony, he was largely known for his works for the piano and for voice. Clara encouraged him to write symphonic music. The title of "Spring Symphony" was bestowed upon it, according to Clara's diary, because of the Spring poems of Adolph Boettger. However, Schumann himself said he was merely inspired by his Liebesfrühling (spring of love).

The symphony has four movements. They are marked:

1. Andante un poco maestoso – Allegro molto vivace (B flat major)
2. Larghetto (E flat major)
3. Scherzo: Molto vivace – Trio I: Molto piu vivace – Trio II (G minor)
4. Allegro animato e grazioso (B flat major)

The orchestration is for 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, timpani, triangle and strings. Schumann made some revisions until the definitive full-score of the symphony was published in 1853. The playing time of the symphony is about 29–32 minutes, depending upon the interpretation.

Selected discography

• Robert Schumann: Symphonies 1-4 & "Manfred" Overture. The Cleveland Orchestra conducted by George Szell (Sony Classical Masterworks Catalog No. 62349), released 10/01/1996
• Robert Schumann: Symphonies 1-4. The Wiener Philharmoniker conducted by Leonard Bernstein (Deutsche Grammophon Double Catalog No. 453049), released 02/11/1997
• Robert Schumann: Symphonies 1-4 & Overture, Scherzo and Finale. The Staatskapelle Dresden conducted by Wolfgang Sawallisch (EMI Great Recordings of the Century Catalog No. 67771), released 04/09/2002
• Robert Schumann: Complete Symphonies (including both versions of Symphony No. 4 and the early Symphony in G minor), Overture, Scherzo & Finale and Konzertstück in F. Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique, conducted by Sir John Eliot Gardiner. (Archiv, Catalogue No. 457591), released 12/5/1998
• Robert Schumann: Symphonies 1-4 & "Manfred" and "Genoveva" Overture. The Berliner Philharmoniker conducted by Rafael Kubelík (Deutsche Grammophon)
• Robert Schumann: 4 Symphonien. The Berliner Philharmoniker conducted by Herbert von Karajan (Deutsche Grammophon)

The above text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License ( creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ ). It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Symphony No. 1 (Schumann)" ( en.wikipedia.org/ ... i/Symphony_No._1_(Schumann) ).