Brahms: Symphonies Nos. 2 and 3

Featuring

Mariss Jansons
Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks
Johannes Brahms

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Critical Reception

The premiere of Brahms's Second Symphony in 1877 was a great success, with critic Eduard Hanslick declaring it 'incontrovertible proof' that symphonies could still be written after Beethoven.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Despite the generally cheerful character of his Second Symphony, Brahms once described himself as 'a victim of severe melancholy' and suggested a motet written concurrently cast a necessary 'shadow' on the symphony.

Composer Biography

Johannes Brahms, proclaimed by Robert Schumann as Beethoven's heir, struggled for 14 years with the legacy of Beethoven's symphonies before completing his First Symphony at age 43.

Critical Reception

Contemporaries found it difficult to accept Brahms's Third Symphony as 'absolute music' without poetic meaning, leading friends like Joseph Joachim and Clara Schumann to offer their own interpretations.

Composition History

Brahms was very secretive about his Third Symphony, completing it in Wiesbaden in 1883, with neither sketches nor private statements about its creation known.

Composition History

Brahms completed his Second Symphony in 1877, just one year after his First, during a happy summer retreat in Pörtschach on Wörthersee Lake.

Cultural Impact

Brahms's Second Symphony is often nicknamed 'Pastorale' due to its cheerful, nature-inspired character, following in the tradition of Beethoven's Sixth Symphony.