Symphony No. 9 (Schubert) Symphony No. 9 (Schubert) The Symphony No. 9 in C major, D 944, known as the Great (published in 1840 as "Symphony No. 7 in C Major", listed as No. 8 in the Neue Schubert-Ausgabe), is the final symphony completed by Franz Schubert. Originally called "The Great C major" to distinguish it from his Symphony No. 6, the "Little C major", the subtitle is now usually taken as a reference to the symphony's majesty. Unusually long for a symphony of its time, a typical performance of "The Great" takes around 55 minutes, though it can also be played in as
Symphony No. 5 (Beethoven) is increased to presto. The symphony ends with 29 bars of C major chords, played fortissimo. In "The Classical Style", Charles Rosen suggests that this ending reflects Beethoven's sense of Classical proportions: the "unbelievably long" pure C major cadence is needed "to ground the extreme tension of [this] immense work." It has been shown that this long chord sequence was a pattern that Beethoven borrowed from the Italian composer Luigi Cherubini, whom Beethoven “esteemed the most” among his contemporary musicians. Spending much of his life in France, Cherubini employed this pattern consistently to close his overtures, which Beethoven knew well.