Schumann · Zimmermann / Holliger

Robert Schumann wrote his First Symphony within a short period in early 1841 – and during one of the most pleasant periods of his life: a few months earlier he had celebrated his wedding to Clara and they had moved into their new home. The composer’s predominantly light-hearted mood and personal happiness is reflected in the work and inspired him to call it his “Spring Symphony”. Twelve years later Clara Schumann was surprised on her 34th birthday with scores from her husband’s two most recent compositions, among them a Fantasy for violin and orchestra. It forecasts Schumann’s last symphonic work, his Violin Concerto, which he completed that same year. Experience two of Schumann’s masterpieces in a remarkable conjunction with music by Bernd Alois Zimmermann: Alagoana, ballet music based on Brazilian rhythms, and his dramatically vigorous Violin Concerto from 1950.