Symphony No. 2, in D played by The BBC Orchestra
(Section B) leader Paul Beard
Conducted by Julius Harrison
In 1854 Schumann told the twenty-two-year-old Brahms that it was his ' duty ' to write a symphony. Brahms set to work, but soon declared that the attempt was a miserable failure, for ' a symphony is no laughing matter nowadays '. At last, after twenty-two more years of careful thought and experimenting, he completed his Symphony No. 1 in C minor which was hailed as a worthy successor to Beethoven's ' Ninth '. Hardly had the applause of the world of music died down when Brahms produced his Symphony No. 2, in D.
Although this latter symphony is conceived on just as big a scale as the C minor Symphony, the texture of the music is actually very much clearer, the melodies more cantabile in character, and the whole spirit of the music brighter-it has been called Brahms's' Pastoral' Symphony.