The Symphony #2 opens serenely as Brahms gives the horns, winds, and finally the strings a melody that certainly qualifies as serene. This melody grows out of three notes sounded by the basses and cellos, three notes that are the thematic germ for the entire symphony, recurring in various incarnations over the duration of the work.
The melody is followed by a muffled drum-roll and a three-note dirge from the trombones and tuba – the storm already threatening Brahms’ pastoral idyll.
The second movement opens with one of the most beautiful melodies Brahms ever composed, played by the cellos. The movement is remarkable for its passages of overwhelming despair, made possible by the tonal instability of the cello theme. Brahms plays on this instability, taking full advantage of the movement between major and minor modes – and the consequent contrast between repose and turmoil – it allows.
The oboe theme that begins the Allegretto grazioso is a transformation of those first three notes from the first movement, and it forms the basis of the A sections of this A-B-A-B-A movement. The B sections, marked at double the tempo of the Allegretto grazioso, provide a rambunctious rhythmic contrast to the country waltz flavor of the surrounding A sections.
In the sonata-form finale, Brahms with- holds back the trombones until the recapitulation, when they make their appearance bathed in light, united with the rest of the orchestra in sounding the movement’s amazing theme and then playing the finale’s final chords in their highest register.
Here is Carlos Kleiber Conducting this work with the Vienna Philharmonic:
