Symphony No. 2, in D minor played by BBC Orchestra
(Section B.)
Leader, Paul Beard
Conducted by Julius Harrison
Owing to the fact that Dvorak's first four symphonies remained unpublished, or were published posthumously, great confusion existed with regard to their numeration. The Symphony No. 2 in D minor, really the seventh of Dvorak's symphonies, was composed in 1883-85 for the Royal Philharmonic Society and Dvorak came to London to conduct the first performance in April 1885.
It is a magnificent work, a finer achievement than the better-known Fourth and Fifth ('New World') Symphonies. It shows Dvorak in a serious mood, and in intellectual power it bears an affinity to the symphonies of Brahms.