Robert Schumann

Symphony No. 3 E Flat Major Op. 97

The title of this symphony goes back to the conductor W. J. von Wasielewski, alluding to the Rhenish cheerfulness of Düsseldorf where Robert Schumann had found a new home, although this goes against Schumann's disapproval of programme music. The symphony was createdin only a few months, a fact commented on by the composer as being in harmony with Romantic aesthetics in art: 'The faster, the better. The flow ofideas and train of thought are more real and more natural than with long reflection.' This is the first time that Schumann does not start a symphony with a slow introduction. The rhythmically distinctive first movement, whose sonata form and optimism correspond with the fifth movement, is followed by three rather slow middle movements, each of them arranged clearly in ABA form.