This is a strikingly orchestrated dramatic symphony from a composer who fell from view after attaining great success and respect during his lifetime. In heyday, Raff (1822 - 1882) seemed destined to carry on German symphonic tradition after the death of Robert Schumann. It is probably his interest in program music (a legacy of his time as a musical assistant and orchestrator for Franz Liszt) that removed him from this historical position, for the great musical debate between Wagner and Brahms cast the issue in terms of program music versus "pure" abstract music. There was little room there for pieces that were classical symphonies in form and yet told a story, as most of Raff's did. The Symphony No. 5 in E "Lenore" is one of the most firmly programmatic of all of them. It has nothing to do, however, with Leonore, the heroine of Beethoven's only opera. This Lenore is the heroine of a lyric ballad penned in 1773 by Gottfried August Bürger, a member of what is known as the Sturm und Drang period of German literature. This appellation, meaning storm and stress, refers to the beginning of the Romantic movement, which started in poems and novels (or "Romances," hence the name of the whole Romantic period) of the Sturm und Drang. The youthful heroes and heroines, often paradigms for the novelist/poet's notions about his/her own "heroic" struggles to create new art, usually are subject to emotional storms as well undergoing assault from the outside world through either scorn of one's rejected society, actual natural storms, or even supernatural visitations. The Lenore of this symphony has become the lover of a soldier named Wilhelm, who promptly goes off to war. She becomes nearly mad with grief over their separation and the lack of any news about him. Raff structures the four movements of his symphony (a nearly hour-long work) into three main sections. The first is called "Liebesglück" (Love's Bliss) and in a pair of matched movements (the symphonic Allegro and an Andante quasi larghetto tells of their love twice: from his and her points of view.) This is rich, ardent, passionate music. The third movement, "Separation," is a march instead of a scherzo. The army appears, marches up, and calls for Wilhelm to join them. The central section is agitation at their separation and in the end, the army marches back away into the distance. In the final section, "Wider Vereinigung in Tode" (Reunited in Death), Lenore has cursed God for their separation and wishes for death. As eerie reminiscences of past themes set the stage for supernatural happenings, a galloping rhythm starts. Woodwinds squeak and snarl and it's clear Raff was a great fan of Berlioz's Symphonie fantastique. Wilhelm appears and takes her away. "Are you afraid of the dead?" he asks, and rots away into a skeleton. Horse and rider disappear, leaving her in an open grave in a churchyard where she battles between her yearnings for life and death, while a hymn for mercy on her soul arises from the church.

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