Johann Wenzeslaus Kalliwoda, born in Bohemia, was one of the few composers whose symphonies got traction in Germany in the years after Beethoven's death. His Symphony No. 1 in F sharp minor has received occasional performances down through the years, and conductors and scholars have begun to unearth his other six symphonic works. Even Schubert wondered what there was left to accomplish in the symphonic genre after Beethoven. He eventually figured it out, and Kalliwoda, in his Symphony No. 5 in B minor, Op. 106, seems to be thinking along some of the same lines as Schubert in his Symphony No. 8 in B minor, the "Unfinished." The low, melodic second theme of Kalliwoda's first movement suggests a special family resemblance -- until one reflects that Kalliwoda likely never heard the "Unfinished" symphony, which didn't have its premiere until 1865. Kalliwoda's Symphony No. 5, like other works of the time, shares a short-short-short-long motif with that of Beethoven in its opening movement, but Kalliwoda uses the motif inventively as a kind of combined transition device and binding glue for the whole structure. His homage is subtle and workmanlike. By the time of the Symphony No. 6 in F major, Op. 132 (incorrectly designated in the English version of the notes as being in G minor), Kalliwoda had surely heard at least the Symphony No. 9 in C major of Schubert; his harmonically ambiguous opening to the work seems to have been inspired by Schubert's, but Kalliwoda can't quite live up to the multitude of implications he sets in motion. Nevertheless, this work, like the earlier symphony, features fine, propulsive executions of large-scale designs. The works are easy to listen to, and the central movements have sections of vivid orchestration that point the way to the tone-painting of the second half of the nineteenth century. Especially in this clear, fast-moving recording by the moderate-sized Hofkapelle Stuttgart under
Frieder Bernius, it's easy to understand why Schumann admired these works, and to conclude that Kalliwoda's influence in the history of the symphony is a bit underrated.