Sinfonia in C 'Calliope'

In his lifetime Wenzel Pichl (1741-1805) was esteemed as one of the foremost European composers of the time. A friend of Dittersdorf, whose works exerted a strong influence on his development, Pichl wrote symphonies that rank among the most interesting of the period. They are the work of a composer blessed with both excellent technique and considerable dramatic flair. The outer movements of the symphonies are thematically enterprising, bristle with purposeful energy and make very effective use of their orchestral forces. Like Dittersdorf, Pichl had an interest in writing symphonies with extra-musical themes drawn from classical mythology. The choice of the nine Muses as the subject for a group of symphonies is an obvious one given Pichl’s background and education. Less explicable, however, is the fact that the works themselves reveal few if any obvious links to their subjects. Calliope, mother of Orpheus and the eldest and most distinguished of the nine, is the muse of eloquence and epic or heroic poetry. Her symphony is the most heavily-scored of the ‘classical’ symphonies: only Mars, predictably, is larger with flute, oboes, bassoons, horns, trumpets, timpani and strings. The weight of orchestration and the employment of a portentous slow introduction to the first movement - the first of Pichl’s symphonies to open in this manner - do lend to the work something of an heroic quality.