- Written in 1816 (just a few months before Symphony No. 5), Symphony No. 4 was the only complete symphony Schubert wrote in a minor key.
- The piece follows a standard 4-movement structure: Adagio molto – Andante – Menuetto – Allegro.
- The nickname, “Tragic,” was assigned by Schubert himself.
- Like most of Schubert’s instrumental works, Symphony No. 4 was never performed during the composer’s lifetime. The first performance took place in Leipzig in 1849.
- It’s not clear what inspired Schubert to write this particular symphony. He had recently been rejected from a music teaching job he had applied for, though there could have been other “demons” haunting the composer at the time.1
- Fun fact: In 1816, Schubert composed about 200 works–a busy year indeed!2
Sources
- Herbert Glass, “Symphony No. 4 in C minor, D. 417 (‘Tragic’),” LA Phil, accessed January 15, 2026, https://www.laphil.com/musicdb/pieces/3997/symphony-no-4-in-c-minor-d-417-tragic.
- “Mozart Fanboy: A Guide to Schubert’s Symphony No. 5,” Houston Symphony (2017), accessed January 15, 2026, https://houstonsymphony.org/guide-schubert-symphony-no-5/.
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