NOSPR in Chamber Mode / 'A Little Symphony' by Schubert, Minn (2022/2022), NOSPR, Katowice, Poland

The year 1824 is a fascinating time in music. Classicism is slowly gaining romantic features. Beethoven’s Missa solemnis and Symphony No. 9 are premiered, the fifteen-year-old Mendelssohn is writing his first “big” symphony, and Chopin, a year his junior, is experimenting with mazurkas. Franz Schubert devotes himself to chamber pieces, composing the Der Tod und das Mädchen and Rosamunde quartets and the Octet in F major, inspired by Beethoven’s Septet, which enjoyed exceptional popularity over the first few decades of the 19th century. The name “octet” means a piece for eight instruments. The mixed ensemble proposed by Schubert became, to an extent, “classical” – it was as late as in the 20th century that it would be employed by such composers as Iannis Xenakis and Isang Yun. Such is the power of a masterpiece; a “small symphony”, seducing with the charm of a Viennese serenade, pleasant for performers and listeners alike.