I’m still following James Webster’s chronology from the Hogwood recording notes, so it’s Symphony No. 4 next, not Symphony No. 3. They put No. 3 in another volume of symphonies with less certain dating. I listened to this one while warming up and eating a slice of leftover frozen pizza. I went with the harpsichordless Hogwood recording again.
Symphony No. 4 was a slight bit more interesting than No. 2, but still not quite as good as No. 1. The opening movement (‘Presto’) is again a fun, propulsive few minutes, occasionally buckling into a quirky moment and shifting into a mysterious moment. The second movement (‘Andante’) immediately sounded like haunted house music — or as Webster put it:
It welds three separate rhythms – freely developing melody, beginning messa di voce; sinuously syncopated, melodically active inner part; “walking” bass – into a mood that is not easily described, but once heard is not easily forgotten.
It was a tad bit interesting, had some pleasant moments and was definitely different to what I’ve heard so far, but it never really emerged from sounding like background music to a Luigi’s Mansion level.
The third movement (‘Tempo di menuetto’) was something new. The other two symphonies each ended with a big exciting Presto, but this was a slightly boring dance that didn’t feel like it had a good sense of flow or much going on.
I rate this symphony 3.5 out of 5.