Symphony No. 4 in B-flat, Op. 20: Full Orchestra Conductor Score & Parts

Niels Wilhelm Gade (1817-1890) composed his Symphony No. 4 in B-flat major, Op. 20 in Copenhagen between Christmas 1849 and March 1850, less than two years after his return from Leipzig, where he had been closely associated with Felix Mendelssohn, Robert Schumann, and the Gewandhaus. The symphony represents an important stage in Gade's movement away from the explicitly Scandinavian "Nordic tone" of his earlier works toward the more cosmopolitan ideals of the Leipzig school, emphasizing Classical formal balance, thematic development, lyrical expression, and a lighter orchestral palette. Dedicated to Louis Spohr, the work is the shortest and most compact of Gade's eight symphonies and unfolds in four movements (1. Andantino-Allegro vivace e grazioso; 2. Andante con moto; 3. Scherzo. Allegro, ma non troppo e tranquillamente; 4. Finale. Allegro molto vivace) scored for pairs of flutes, oboes, clarinets, and bassoons, four horns, two trumpets, timpani, and strings, notably dispensing with the trombones used in his preceding three symphonies. The Symphony No. 4 received its world premiere on November 16, 1850, in Copenhagen, performed by the orchestra of the Musikforeningen under Gade's direction, making it the first of his symphonies to receive its premiere in his native Denmark. The reception was favorable, with contemporary Danish criticism praising its formal accomplishment, while its German premiere at the Leipzig Gewandhaus on January 16, 1851, conducted by Julius Rietz, produced a more divided response from listeners who missed the overtly Nordic character of Gade's earlier music. Friedrich Kistner published the score in Leipzig in 1851, and despite the mixed initial German reaction the symphony became one of Gade's greatest nineteenth-century successes. It received 18 Gewandhaus performances between 1851 and 1885, its Scherzo became a popular encore there, and some 90 performances outside Copenhagen are documented between 1850 and 1875, while violinist Joseph Joachim later named it his favorite among Gade's works. Today, Symphony No. 4 in B-flat major, Op. 20 is no longer part of the standard international orchestral repertoire and is heard far less frequently than its nineteenth-century performance history would suggest, but modern recordings, scholarly editions, and occasional revivals have sustained its reputation as one of Gade's strongest symphonies and as an important representative of the mid-nineteenth-century Danish and Leipzig symphonic traditions. Instrumentation: 2.2.2.2: 4.2.0.0: Timp: Str (9.8.7.6.5 in set). Reprint edition.