Composed: 1802
Premiered: 1803, Vienna
Duration: 32 minutes

It is difficult to reconcile the usually accepted date of composition of Beethoven’s Second Symphony, 1802, with the events of that year. That was the summer he spent in the village of Heiligenstadt – at that time a suburb of Vienna – where he wrote the much-discussed Heiligenstadt Testament, an agonized, rambling outpouring of despair about his growing deafness, and the recognition and acceptance of the fact that it was incurable. At the same time, he expressed his determination to persevere in working towards his musical goals in spite of his infirmity. The Second Symphony does not show the least trace of gloom. There seems to be little doubt that this vigorous, ebullient work was actually written in 1802, but in any case, Beethoven’s despairing mood was short-lived. His most intensely productive period followed immediately on that difficult summer. 

The Second Symphony marks a significant step in Beethoven’s path from the Mozart and Haydn conception of the symphony to his own unique sound-world. Although the form and scale were still largely classical, the drive and energy are typical of Beethoven’s middle-period manner. There is a distinct sense of a journey from the opening through the lushly beautiful, almost Schubertian slow movement, the Scherzo (no longer called a minuet), to the explosive, jagged finale. The gigantic, turbulent Eroica was composed the very next year; in fact, Beethoven was already working on it as he was correcting the proofs of the Second. The 19th century had begun, and the world, including its music, would never be the same again.

Program note by the late Dr. C.W. Helleiner.