(It may here be noted that the symphony was fully sketched in four days, and that Schumann now speaks of composing the work in February, 1841, and now of writing it towards the end of that year.)
Berthold Litzmann, in the second volume of his Clara Schumann (Leipsic, 1906), gives interesting extracts from the common diary of Schumann and his wife, notes written while Schumann was composing this symphony.
Towards the end of December, 1840, she complained that Robert had been for some days “very cold toward her, yet the reason for it is a delightful one.” On January 17-23, 1841, she wrote that it was not her week to keep the diary, “but, if a man is composing a symphony, it is not to be expected that he will do anything else.... The symphony is nearly finished. I have not yet heard a note of it, but I am exceedingly glad that Robert at last has started out in the field where, on account of his great imagination, he belongs.” January 25: “Today, Monday, Robert has nearly finished his symphony; it was composed chiefly at night—for some nights my poor Robert has not slept on account of it. He calls it ‘Spring symphony.’... A spring poem by [Boettger] gave him the first impulse toward composition.”
According to the diary Schumann completed the symphony on Tuesday, January 26. “Begun and finished in four days.... If there were only an orchestra for it right away. I must confess, my dear husband, I did not give you credit for such dexterity.” Schumann began to work on the instrumentation January 27; Clara impatiently waited to hear a note of the symphony. The instrumentation of the first movement was completed February 4, that of the second and third movements on February 13, that of the fourth on February 20, in the year 1841. Not till February 14 did Schumann play the symphony to her. E. F. Wenzel, later a teacher at the Leipsic Conservatory, and E. Pfundt, a kettledrum player of the Gewandhaus orchestra, were present. “I should like,” she wrote in her diary, “to say a little something about the symphony, yet I should not be able to speak of the little buds, the perfume of the violets, the fresh green leaves, the birds in the air.... Do not laugh at me, my dear husband! If I cannot express myself poetically, nevertheless the poetic breath of this work has stirred my very soul.” The instrumentation was completed on February 20.
Clara wrote to Emilie Liszt after the performance: “My husband’s symphony achieved a triumph over all cabals and intrigues.... I never heard a symphony received with such applause.”
Robert wrote in the diary some days before that his next symphony should be entitled “Clara; and I shall paint her therein with flutes, oboes, and harps.”
The first movement opens with an introduction, andante un poco maestoso, B flat major, 4-4, which begins with a virile phrase in the horns and trumpets, answered by the full orchestra fortissimo. There are stormy accents in the basses, with full chords in the brass and other strings, and each chord is echoed by the wood-wind. Flute and clarinet notes over a figure in the violas lead to a gradual crescendo ed accelerando, which introduces the allegro molto vivace, B flat major, 2-4. This begins at once with a brilliant first theme. The chief figure is taken from the initial horn and trumpet call as Schumann originally wrote it. The development of the theme leads finally to a modulation to the key of C major, and there is the thought, naturally, of F major as the tonality of the second theme, but this motive given out by the clarinets and bassoons is in no definite tonality; it is in a mode which suggests A minor and also D minor; the second section ends, however, in F major, and the further development adheres to this key. The first part of the movement is repeated. The free fantasia is long and elaborately worked out. The first movement does not return in the shape it has at the beginning of the allegro, but in the broader version heard at the opening of the introduction. The long coda begins animato, poco a poco stringendo, on a new theme in full harmony in the strings, and it is developed until horns and trumpets sound the familiar call.
The second movement, larghetto, E flat major, 3-8, opens with a romanza developed by the violins. The second theme, C major, is of a more restless nature, and its phrases are given out alternately by the wood-wind and violins. The melodious first theme is repeated, B flat major, by the violoncellos against an accompaniment in second violins and violas and syncopated chords in the first violins and the wood-wind. There is a new episodic theme. The first motive appears for the third time, now in E flat major. It is sung by the oboe and horn, accompanied by clarinets and bassoons, with passages in the strings. Near the close of the short coda are solemn harmonies in bassoons and trombones. This movement is enchained with the scherzo.
The scherzo, molto vivace, D minor, 3-4, begins in G minor. The first trio, molto più vivace, D major, 2-4, includes harmonic interplay between strings and wind instruments. It is developed at some length, and the scherzo is repeated. There is a second trio, B flat major, 3-4, with imitative contrapuntal work, and it is followed by a second repetition of the scherzo. A short coda has the rhythm of the first trio and brings the end.
Finale: allegro animato e grazioso, B flat major, 2-2. It begins with a fortissimo figure which is used hereafter. The first theme, a cheerful, tripping dance melody, enters and is developed by strings and wood-wind. The second theme, equally blithe, is in G major, and the impressive initial figure of the full orchestra at the beginning of the movement, now given out by the strings, is in the second phrase. The two motives are worked up alternately. The free fantasia opens quietly. Trombones sound the rhythm of the first theme of the first movement. There is a long series of imitations on the first theme of the finale. This series leads to some horn calls and a cadenza for the flute. The third section of the movement is regular, and there is a brilliant coda.