Schubert’s Symphony #9 in C Major is often called “The Great.”
What makes The Great so great, is something Dr Graeme Downes has been thinking about for much of his career.
“The music’s full of existential questions, it seems to me. The finale is the thing that still grips me, like it gripped me when I first heard this piece of music when I was about 14 years old.”
Photo: RNZ Tim Dodds / Stephen A'Court
The former Flying Nun rock star-turned-musicologist has spent a significant portion of his life thinking about classical music.
“Why I'm so passionate about [it] still, after all these years is because, actually, there's a profound respect embedded in it," said Downes, "Symphony orchestras are extremely expensive. It takes a lot of money to get that many bums on seats for rehearsals, and then a gig. It has to mean something to people and clearly, Schubert's #9 does still mean a great deal to people.”
NZSO first violinist Haihong Liu has her own ideas about the longevity of Schubert’s works.
“I absolutely love Schubert as a string player. Every single piece takes my heart. Particularly, I love Schubert's harmonics, the texture he wrote for strings. They’re just phenomenal. There are really complex emotions being written here.”
NZSO first violinist Haihong Liu. Photo: NZSO
It's also available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio, Google Podcasts or any good podcast app.
Crescendo is voiced by RNZ Concert’s Clarissa Dunn with sound mix by Marc Chesterman. It was written and produced by Noelle McCarthy from an original concept by Bird of Paradise.
Photo: Bird Of Paradise Productions
