Symphony in B flat major op. 57

Although written five years after the Symphonie gothique, the symphony opus 57 was premiered before it and initially designated Godard’s first symphony, even by the composer himself. When it was published by Choudens in 1889, ten years after its composition, however, there was no longer any mention of the title “first”. These second thoughts may well have been a sign that Godard had given up the idea of composing another “true” symphony, systematically focusing instead on the symphony with a title or programme (“légendaire”, “descriptive”, “gothique”, etc.). The reception of the work showed the divide between two aesthetic approaches coexisting in the concert halls and the catalogues of a composer like Godard. While “Kermesse [from the Trois Morceaux for orchestra] belongs to the descriptive genre which is so fashionable because it is the easiest”, the B Flat Symphony is “one of the most serious works that the young master ever wrote. A great deal of skill and expertise is found throughout.” Clarity, regarded as “one of the composer’s key qualities”, is set aside in favour of “the Wagnerian style”, in other words, in favour of development and more sophisticated harmonies. The critics were unanimous in their support of Godard’s ambitious aims, regarding the composer as one of the “most eminent contemporary symphonists”. Even though, as was customary, Godard wrote the outer movements in sonata form, he rebelled against using the usual tonal scheme, as in his chamber music, aiming for originality in his unconventional choice of keys for the second theme. The Lento ma non troppo is a theme followed by seven variations and a coda, while the Vivace is a scherzo with its customary trio.