The Symphony No. 1 in D major by Norwegian composer Johan Svendsen was written while Svendsen was a pupil at Mendelssohn's Leipzig Conservatory. It is, without question, a student work. The work is in the standard four-movement sequence of opening Allegro molto, Andante, Allegretto scherzando, and closing Finale: Allegro assai con fuoco. Its thematic and harmonic content is just as standard. The Allegro molto has an exposition with an assertive tutti main theme and a supplicating subsidiary theme for winds, a development that first states one theme then the other and then combines them both at the climax, and a recapitulation that restates both themes in the tonic key. The Andante is a lyrical mediation in the dominant. The Finale is the tonic and, starting with a noble Maestoso introduction, builds to a powerful brass-capped climax. Any of these movements could have been written by any mid-nineteenth century student composer. Only the third movement Allegretto scherzando is original in its succession of seemingly disparate themes. But even this is to be expected from a student composer who cares to show his limited independence. Svendsen's Symphony No. 1 is a composition exercise by a talented pupil.

© James Leonard, Rovi