Symphony No. 2 in D Major, Op. 36
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)     

THE STORY

Composed on the cusp of Beethoven’s “heroic” period (1802-15), his Second Symphony foreshadows important developments for which he would become famous. It is experimental and grand, with elongated proportions, rhythmic verve, and exaggerated contrasts in dynamics, harmony, and orchestration.

In the body of the first movement, large outbursts by the entire orchestra continually threaten to destabilize more lyrical moments in the woodwinds or the forward momentum of rhythmically driving passages. After the dramatic abundance of the first movement, the pastoral Larghetto suggests the pleasure that Beethoven found in his long walks in nature.

The third movement marks the first time Beethoven uses the title “Scherzo” instead of the traditional “minuet.” The fourth movement offers a playful figure in the woodwinds counterbalanced by murmuring strings, singing lines in the oboe and bassoon, and belligerent tutti punctuations. A dramatic pause marks the beginning of the extended coda, in which the wagging figure that began the movement returns innocently but then builds to a raucous recapitulation of the thematic material taken at breakneck speed.

LISTEN FOR

• The ambivalence between the warmth and darkness of major and minor keys in the slow introduction to the first movement
• In the Scherzo, the rising scales in the violins—continually interrupted by the full orchestra
• The finale’s cheeky beginning with an upward flick in the woodwinds, followed by a tumbling gesture in the entire orchestra, which then dissipates into scuttling figures in the strings

INSTRUMENTATION

Two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, two horns, two trumpets, timpani, strings