Christoph Ernst Friedrich Weyse: Symphony No.1, in G Minor, DF.117,

Christoph Ernst Friedrich Weyse

 (5 March 1774 – 8 October 1842) was a Danish composer during the Danish Golden Age.

 Symphony No.1, in G Minor, DF.117(1805 Revised Version)=

 

Concerto Copenhagen, Lars Ulrik Mortensen (conductor)
1.Allegro con spirit - 00:00
2.Minuetto – Trio – 07:54
3.Andante – 13:21
4.Vivace – 20:56

 

Weyse was born at Altona in Holstein, near Hamburg, which was in a personal union with Denmark. He gained much interest in music in his hometown and Hamburg, where C.P.E. Bach was the municipal director of music. At age fifteen (1789), Weyse was sent to live with his uncle in Copenhagen to be educated, and lived there for the rest of his life. Here he received his training under J.A.P. Schultz.
Weyse was one of the great piano virtuosos of his day (he first achieved fame in the 1790s for his performances of Mozart's piano concertos), taught the daughters of the bourgeoisie, composed symphonies, operas, and piano music, and held the post of organist at Vor Frue Kirke. Weyse had a considerable reputation as organist, particularly as an improviser, and it is therefore quite strange that he wrote so little for the instrument he apparently mastered to perfection. Franz Liszt heard him in 1840 and he wrote enthusiastically about Weyse's organ playing and compared him to Bach.
Weyse composed all of his symphonies in a brief burst of creativity just before the dawn of the 19th century (1795-99). Perhaps it was the appearance of Beethoven's First Symphony the following year that caused Weyse to turn his attention to forms of musical expression where the competition was not as stiff.

“The first symphony, like Mozart's 40th, is in G minor. Weyse displays here a distinct personality of his own. The scoring here is especially inventive. Weyse often relies upon the winds and brass to advance the symphonic argument, particularly in the stormy, Beethovenian development section of the Symphony's opening movement, which is quite daring for a work composed in 1795. Meanwhile, the lovely trio of II (minuet) could easily be mistaken for early Schubert owing to its fluid grace, winning lyricism, and warm woodwind colors. The spirited finale combines the severity of Mozart with a welcome foretaste of the corresponding movement from Mendelssohn's Italian Symphony.” (Tom Godell, 1997)