Franz Schmidt’s symphonies cover the years 1899 to 1933 and chart a development securely within the Austro-German tradition. The contrapuntal mastery of Symphony No. 1, the command of variations in No. 2, the harmonic sophistication of No. 3, and the best-known of the quartet, the elegiacal and highly Romantic No. 4, all evoke a distinctive sound world and contain powerful expressive features. The accompanying orchestral works, including the popular Intermezzo from the opera Notre Dame, are equally powerful examples of his art. The recordings in this set received high praise with BBC Music Magazine lauding Vassily Sinaisky’s ‘revelatory cycle’.
