Uploaded November 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
BBC National Orchestra of Wales conducted by Richard Hickox.
I - Allegro moderato e tempestoso: 0:00
II - Perigourdine. Allegro bucolico e giocoso: 9:51
III - Lento: 15:32
Rubbra's Symphony No.1 was composed between 1935-7. It was premiered in a broadcast at the BBC Concert Hall on April 30 of 1937, performed by the BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Adrian Boult as part of a contemporary music concert. The piece gained considerable attention at the time, but few performances took place after. In addition, the piece was criticised for its thick orchestration and lack of ease in understanding. Charles Groves and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra revived it in the 1970s, and there was a BBC broadcast on January 29 of 1988 by the BBC Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Simon Joly.
It is the first of four closely related symphonies Rubbra wrote in quick succession between 1935-41. He described them as being "different facets of one thought", since each was a reaction to the last. The Symphony also reflects the agitated and turbulent times of Britain in the 1930s, also reflected in William Walton's Symphony No.1 in B-flat minor, Vaughan Williams' Symphony No.4 in F minor or Alan Bush Symphony No.1 in C. It was one of the last of Rubbra's symphonies to receive a commercial recording, issued by Chandos in 1997 and which is the one featured in this video. Everything in this symphony is organically derived, and the whole work is a tour de force from a young composer facing up to the symphonic challenge for the first time.
The first movement is very free in form, eschewing sonata form. It begins with a dissonant chorale on brass, alongside a strident ostinato on violins and violas over a B-flat pedal note from the basses. These elements are the whole basis of the allegro, forming a turbulent and tempestuous main theme, that is soon contrapuntally developed as it goes through a gradual diminuendo. The central part is more subdued in dynamics, but still tense and menacing. The chorale takes a more lyrical tone when interpreted by the clarinet, over the background ostinati figures. An ominous climax is reached, subsiding in a melodic section that offers some contrast if not relief. A crescendo culminates in a fierce final climax, before the movement disintegrates without achieving resolution.
The second movement is an intermezzo subtitled "Perigourdine". It is based on an 8-bar French dance tune (hence the subtitle) in A-flat major, taken from a late eighteenth-century source. This offers a sudden and drastic contrast when compared with the music of the previous movement. The intervals of the dance tune itself are a diatonic version of the opening troubled chromatic motive. The dance becomes wilder and more dissonant as times, also showcasing Rubbra's actual mastery of orchestration despite its thickness. The material is subjected to continuous variations that are drastically different in character. After a slower and stately passage, we return to the opening joviality before the intermezzo ending with a vigorous coda.
The third movement is also very free in form. It opens with a melancholic theme on cellos, derived from the opening bars of the symphony, which then unfolds like a passacaglia with ever-increasing dramatic tension until reaching a powerful, march-like climax. Follows a dirge-like passage dominated by strings, which leads to another climax of great dramatic force, reinforced by intricate counterpoint. The dirge-like material returns on full orchestra, being even more expressive and agitated until a solemn march suddenly appears and brings contrast. The opening theme is restated in a varied form in quiet passage by the basses, which signals the beginning of a complex fugue, born from the depths of the orchestra and combining all the nuances previously mentioned in a continuous ascending crescendo. Only at the coda is the final goal, the key of C, reached in an extraordinary polyphonic web of sound.
Picture: "Twentieth Century" (1932-5) by English artist C. R. W. Nevinson.
Musical analysis mostly written by myself. Sources: tinyurl.com/26fw4mtb and tinyurl.com/24brpr8h
Unfortunately, the score isn't freely available.
BBC National Orchestra of Wales conducted by Richard Hickox.
I - Allegro moderato e tempestoso: 0:00
II - Perigourdine. Allegro bucolico e giocoso: 9:51
III - Lento: 15:32
Rubbra's Symphony No.1 was composed between 1935-7. It was premiered in a broadcast at the BBC Concert Hall on April 30 of 1937, performed by the BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Adrian Boult as part of a contemporary music concert. The piece gained considerable attention at the time, but few performances took place after. In addition, the piece was criticised for its thick orchestration and lack of ease in understanding. Charles Groves and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra revived it in the 1970s, and there was a BBC broadcast on January 29 of 1988 by the BBC Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Simon Joly.
It is the first of four closely related symphonies Rubbra wrote in quick succession between 1935-41. He described them as being "different facets of one thought", since each was a reaction to the last. The Symphony also reflects the agitated and turbulent times of Britain in the 1930s, also reflected in William Walton's Symphony No.1 in B-flat minor, Vaughan Williams' Symphony No.4 in F minor or Alan Bush Symphony No.1 in C. It was one of the last of Rubbra's symphonies to receive a commercial recording, issued by Chandos in 1997 and which is the one featured in this video. Everything in this symphony is organically derived, and the whole work is a tour de force from a young composer facing up to the symphonic challenge for the first time.
The first movement is very free in form, eschewing sonata form. It begins with a dissonant chorale on brass, alongside a strident ostinato on violins and violas over a B-flat pedal note from the basses. These elements are the whole basis of the allegro, forming a turbulent and tempestuous main theme, that is soon contrapuntally developed as it goes through a gradual diminuendo. The central part is more subdued in dynamics, but still tense and menacing. The chorale takes a more lyrical tone when interpreted by the clarinet, over the background ostinati figures. An ominous climax is reached, subsiding in a melodic section that offers some contrast if not relief. A crescendo culminates in a fierce final climax, before the movement disintegrates without achieving resolution.
The second movement is an intermezzo subtitled "Perigourdine". It is based on an 8-bar French dance tune (hence the subtitle) in A-flat major, taken from a late eighteenth-century source. This offers a sudden and drastic contrast when compared with the music of the previous movement. The intervals of the dance tune itself are a diatonic version of the opening troubled chromatic motive. The dance becomes wilder and more dissonant as times, also showcasing Rubbra's actual mastery of orchestration despite its thickness. The material is subjected to continuous variations that are drastically different in character. After a slower and stately passage, we return to the opening joviality before the intermezzo ending with a vigorous coda.
The third movement is also very free in form. It opens with a melancholic theme on cellos, derived from the opening bars of the symphony, which then unfolds like a passacaglia with ever-increasing dramatic tension until reaching a powerful, march-like climax. Follows a dirge-like passage dominated by strings, which leads to another climax of great dramatic force, reinforced by intricate counterpoint. The dirge-like material returns on full orchestra, being even more expressive and agitated until a solemn march suddenly appears and brings contrast. The opening theme is restated in a varied form in quiet passage by the basses, which signals the beginning of a complex fugue, born from the depths of the orchestra and combining all the nuances previously mentioned in a continuous ascending crescendo. Only at the coda is the final goal, the key of C, reached in an extraordinary polyphonic web of sound.
Picture: "Twentieth Century" (1932-5) by English artist C. R. W. Nevinson.
Musical analysis mostly written by myself. Sources: tinyurl.com/26fw4mtb and tinyurl.com/24brpr8h
Unfortunately, the score isn't freely available.
