Major and minor fourths

Not every piece written by a great composer is great … but the corpus of any decent composer will contain a number of works which remain neglected simply because no one has bothered to draw attention to their greatness. Schubert’s Fourth Symphony was composed in 1816 but, in the two subsequent centuries, it has remained poorly served on record and is infrequently spotted on concert programmes. At long last, however, the symphony may have found its most ardent ambassador in Gustavo Dudamel. Herr Dudamel has been a frequent and welcome visitor to the podium of the Philharmonie in recent years, and he has captivated audiences with his tense, stirring and often brilliant readings of the big classics. Certainly there can be no doubting the grace and majesty he is able to bring to a large-scale showpiece such as Also Sprach Zarathustra; but…