The B.B.C. Symphony Orchestra, conductor, Adrian Boult : Tragic Overture (Brahms)
Arthur Rubinstein (pianoforte) and The London Symphony Orchestra, conducted bv Albert Coates : Concerto No. 2, in B flat (Brahms)
Brahms himself Rave this overture its name of ' Tragic.', but he did not give any other reason for his choice of title than is contained in the music. It was written at the same time as the Academic Festival Overture, in the summer of 1880, and may be considered its complement. Both overtures were first performed at Bres]au in the following year, and the performance was somewhat of an occasion, for Brahms had just been made a Doctor of Philosophy by the University of that city.
Brahms appeared as soloist in his Second Pianoforte Concerto on its first appearance; that was in the Christmas week of 1880, in Vienna. Nearly twenty-two years had elapsed since the First Pianoforte Concerto came out, and by contrast with the stress and conflict which sounds almost all through it, this second seems light-hearted. Happiness certainly inspired it, and its message is one of sanity and whole-hearted rejoicing. There are four movements, and Brahms himself explained that he added the second because the first and third were so simple that something bigger was needed between them.
It is dedicated to Brahms's old master,
Eduard Marzsen , as a token of the lifelong gratitude and affection which united the two men.