Unsure of his ability to compose symphonies, Brahms took 14 years to finish his first in 1876. Its critical and popular success, while far from overwhelming, gave him the confidence to try his hand at a symphony again, and this time with much greater assurance; thus, it took him just a few months in the summer and fall of 1877 to compose his Second Symphony. Brahms spent the summer of 1877 in Pörtschach, an out-of-the-way village in the Austrian countryside, from where he wrote to Vienna’s chief music critic, Eduard Hanslick, “So many melodies fly about, one must be careful not to step on them.” The symphony’s sunny spirit—especially the last two movements—and relatively transparent orchestration harks back to the young Brahms of the two orchestral Serenades (1856–60) and has less of the dense orchestration that permeates much of Brahms’s symphonic writing. It induced one of the composer’s friends to exclaim: “It is all rippling streams, blue sky, sunshine, and cool green shadows. How beautiful it must be at Pörtschach!” 

Brahms kept all but his closest friends in the dark about the character of the new work, hinting that it was tragic, somber, dirge-like, and—adding facetiously—would require the orchestra members to wear black crêpe armbands. The premiere in Vienna on Dec. 30, 1877, under the baton of Hans Richter, was an unqualified success, and the ebullient third movement had to be repeated at the insistence of the enthusiastic audience. 

The first movement begins gently, only gradually building in dramatic intensity. The opening three notes in the cellos and basses represent a three-note motivic element (motto) that pervades the first movement sometimes in the melody, at other times as an accompanying figure. Yet, offsetting this persistent kernel is a considerable array of themes, some of which find the little motive embedded within them. The second theme is one of the symphony's darker moments and becomes the heart of the development section. Nevertheless, good weather prevails by the end with a gentle coda recalling the motto and ending with a restatement of the first theme.

Like the preceding movement, the Adagio non troppo is packed with melodies, but this time the sunshine pretty much stays behind the clouds from the start. Here Brahms breaks down his longer themes into fragments, using the three-note motto from the first movement as well. 

The third movement opens with a beautiful Allegretto grazioso solo for the reed woodwinds, accompanied by pizzicato cellos. In an unusual move, Brahms uses the main theme again in the trio – only speeded up to presto and in 2/4 time instead of 3/4. The repeat of the first part is a free variation with only brief reprises of the original woodwind melody.

The finale, the most festive movement Brahms ever wrote, begins with a gray sotto voce (subdued) rhythmic variation of the three-note motto from the opening movement, once again in the cellos and basses. Here Brahms incorporates it into the beginning of the principal theme. The mood becomes gradually more excited, and the Symphony concludes in blazing optimism with a trumpet fanfare.

Program notes by:
Joseph & Elizabeth Kahn
Wordpros@mindspring.com
www.wordprosmusic.com