Symphony No. 3 in C Minor, Op. 9 - Samuel Ricke

00:00 - I. Andante
11:56 - II. Adagio
22:51 - III. Scherzo (Vivace)
29:50 - IV. Finale (Allegro con moto)

I began this project back in 2019 right before I began my undergrad degree in music composition. It's interesting looking back now, but basically I had avoided writing another symphony for a while since I had grown a lot as a composer since the time I had written my second. My first two were major stepping stones in my development as a composer, because they brought me out of my musical ignorance in a way, albeit very incrementally. In those symphonies, I imitated the classical galant style quite religiously, with limited knowledge about counterpoint and theory notwithstanding. I made elementary mistakes like parallel 5ths and octaves, bad leading tones, etc. After I had spent months and months absorbing Bach's music, studying it, transcribing it, and posting it here on MuseScore, I got a much better grasp of counterpoint, structure, and form. This symphony borrows from Bach and Beethoven quite a bit, however, I tried to do things that were uncommon in their respective eras. Suffice it to say that this will probably be my last composition that more or less imitates the classical/early romantic era.

This first movement is meant to feel dance-like and a bit tragic. It went through several revisions, but the essential structure of what I wrote down in 2019 is present. Although the entire symphony is in c minor, I thought it would be interesting if the key was a bit ambiguous at first, and the true key reluctantly took the center stage more near the end. After the unsure footing of this first movement, the rest of the symphony is fairly confident in its key signature.

The second movement is slower, but retains the melodic style of the first. It is organized in a theme-variation style, and I tried to utilize each instrument throughout the piece, giving each one its own moment to shine. E-flat major is the key, which is the relative major key of C minor, giving it a sense of close continuity, but several keys show up that are not so related.

For the third movement of my third symphony, I decided to go the traditional route and opt for a scherzo in triple meter. The fast tempo was somewhat inspired by the famous scherzo of Beethoven's Ninth, however, I tried to be as faithful to the rules as possible. The trio brings back the theme from the first movement, and gives a preview of the finale at the end.

For the finale of my third symphony, I chose to write a couple of themes and stick with them without getting over complicated. This movement went through several revisions before I ended up with a version I thought was adequate, and that is this present version here. I can't pinpoint an exact inspiration, but generally, Beethoven and Mozart's symphonic works.

Overall, I would say this symphony is definitely my best, and I am very glad with how it turned out. The program I use for the sound is the UVI Orchestral Suite, which I mix in Logic.