The case of Joseph Joachim Raff exemplifies as well as any the vagaries of musical popularity. He was a highly skilled composer, though the speed at which he produced new music made him suspect to many critics of his time. From 1861 until 1876 Raff wrote symphonies that deftly blend the influences of Schumann, Mendelssohn, and Liszt. Although incomplete at his death, this colorful, descriptive Eleventh Symphony is the conclusion of an immense "Four Seasons" cycle of symphonies. It inevitably invited comparison with Tchaikovsky's First Symphony, "Winter Dreams," composed and revised from 1866 to 1874. While the Russian master's work is the somewhat uncertain work of a composer still finding his path, it has more individual character than Raff's.

Lack of individual character, in fact, was the main complaint of his contemporaries. He was not as interested as others were in intense emotion. He had drawn back from his early mentor Franz Liszt and the "New German School" that centered around Liszt and Wagner. Yet he never decisively allied himself with the heirs of Schumann. Wagnerian harmony is present in the work, as is a modern style of orchestration, much more advanced than that of Brahms. (The brass writing fully exploits the new keyed chromatic horns and trumpets, making marvelous effects in the first movement.)

Raff had a very good sense of musical timing. The four movements, well-balanced in length, together total just about 35 minutes.

The opening movement, "The First Snow," is an Allegro with a slow introduction. This alternates poetic and airy sounds from solo woodwinds, then strings. Fluffy, soft plucked strings under beautifully scored woodwinds describe the weather perfectly, along with a sense of melancholy that the cold season has arrived.

The second movement is a scherzo marked Allegretto. Its measured and balanced phrases might suggest a dance party in the warm indoors, while pert woodwind figures might be gentle flurries around the house. (Raff, unlike Tchaikovsky, left no actual program; just the descriptive titles of three of the movements.)

Charges of impersonality might most credibly originate in the third movement, "By the Fireside." This is a peaceful and carefree song led off by the bassoon. Where other symphonic composers used slow movements to pour out sad, heavy emotions, Raff is content to charm.

The finale is the Carnival. This is a vigorous piece with fugal passages and folkish dances. It warms the listener and serves as a reminder that winter is almost over.

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