The Sixth Symphony by Louis Spohr isn’t one of my favorites, but it’s fascinating to write about. It’s known as the “Historical” Symphony, and it presents an overview of musical styles from the Baroque to Spohr’s era. The movements are:
- Bach-Handel period, 1720
- Haydn-Mozart period, 1780
- Beethoven period, 1810
- Very latest, 1840
The first movement begins with a perfect imitation of the Baroque overture, with a slow introduction and a fast, fugal main section. Its rich counterpoint suggests Bach’s side of the overview, though it’s a bit more chromatic than an authentic Bach overture. After two and a half minutes it breaks off for the lyrical middle section. The music has a strong hint of Handel’s “He shall feed His flock.” Whether you take it as Spohr’s voice or Spohr imitating Handel, it’s quite beautiful. The contrapuntal section returns, more chromatic than before, bringing the movement to a quiet but decisive end.
Spohr was a tremendous admirer of Mozart, so you’d expect him to be strongest in the “Haydn-Mozart” movement, but it doesn’t impress me as much. The main theme makes serious use of a dotted motif which isn’t especially reminiscent of those composers. The key change to the second theme of this sonata-form movement is handled much as Haydn would have.
The third movement, a scherzo, pays an obvious homage to Beethoven. Not only did Beethoven make the scherzo a standard part of the symphony, the use of the tympani as a thematic instrument is a distinctive characteristic of his. The tension and the cross-rhythms add to the Beethovenian style. The trio uses a theme derived from the main part of the scherzo, which is characteristic of Spohr rather than Beethoven.
Since the symphony’s premiere, the fourth movement has been its controversial part. Spohr was a musical conservative, sticking by Mozartean ideals as Europe’s composers moved into the Romantic era. I have to take this “very latest” (“allerneuest”) movement as a satire on music (especially French music) which he regarded as increasingly noisy and empty. The movement is dated a year after he wrote the symphony, confirming its over-the-top intent. It opens on a fortissimo diminished seventh chord then gives us three more before getting into the first theme. This theme is rhythmically repetitive and backed by lots of percussion. The transition to the second theme promises some relief, but that theme is closely related to the first one. The relief is short-lived, and the movement continues its raucous way to the finish without breaking its straight face.
Robert Schumann gave the symphony a mixed review. He compared the first three movements to Napoleon attending a masked ball in disguise. Even with the mask, Spohr’s identity stands out everywhere in the first three movements. However, he called the finale “a complete failure,” declaring that “Spohr should not lend his pen to writing such stuff.”
Overall, the symphony is interesting to listen to for its unusual program. Other composers have written pieces paying tribute to earlier musical eras; Grieg’s suite From Holberg’s Time is a well-known example. The juxtaposition of several historical styles, culminating in a movement that can’t be taken seriously, sets this symphony apart. It provides insight into Spohr’s inspirations and his attitudes as a composer.
A performance on YouTube is available with a score to follow along.