| Symphony No. 2 | |
|---|---|
| Symphony by Richard Strauss | |
 Richard Strauss the year after the premiere of the F minor Symphony | |
| Key | F minor |
| Catalogue | TrV 126 |
| Opus | 12 |
| Composed | 1885. |
The Symphony No. 2 in F minor was written by Richard Strauss between 1883 and 1884. It is sometimes referred to as just Symphony in F minor. He gave it the Opus number 12, and it also appears in other catalogues as TrV 126 and Hanstein A.I.2. It is not listed in von Asow's catalog.
The symphony was premiered by Theodore Thomas conducting the New York Philharmonic on 13 December 1884. [1] The European premiere, with Strauss himself conducting, took place in October 1885 (on the same night he was the soloist in Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 24, K. 491, with his own cadenza). [2] [3] In 1887 he played it again with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra. [4] The work has been performed only once at the BBC Proms, in the 1905 season on 1 September at the Queen's Hall with Henry Wood conducting the New Queens Hall Orchestra. [5]
The symphony is written for a standard orchestra consisting of 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets in B-flat, 2 bassoons, 4 horns in F, 2 trumpets in F and C, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, and strings.
The symphony is in the usual four movements, though the scherzo and slow movement are switched from their usual positions, as in Beethoven's Symphony No. 9:
The first movement is a sonata form allegro with three themes. The ways Strauss develops his material in this symphony owes much to Beethoven's middle period music, in particular "the slow movement of the Seventh Symphony (in the chromatically inflected stepwise descent at mm. 139—43 of the first movement), the development of the Eroica , first movement (repeated tutti pounding of a single dissonance, in movement one, mm. 193—99), and the Egmont Overture, this time in the same key (intensification through repetition of rising motive over dominant harmony, in movement four, mm. 346—49)." [6] The recapitulation section is unusual in that it modulates to A-flat major for the second subject group rather than staying in tonic or going to the parallel major; modulating to the mediant major in a minor-key sonata form movement is typically expected in the exposition.
The scherzo was successful and had to be repeated both times Strauss conducted the symphony in Milan in 1887. [7]
A transitional brass motif from the first movement intrudes in the lyricism of the slow movement.
The main theme of the fourth movement is "an agitated low-string melody rising beneath tremolo and sounding very much like Bruckner." [8] Near the end, about halfway between rehearsal letters T and U, Strauss recalls themes from the previous three movements, though the Andante is recalled second and the Scherzo third. Bruckner's Symphony No. 3, in its 1873 version, also recalls themes from the previous movements in the finale at an analogous point. [9]
Johannes Brahms's initial reaction to the piece was two words: "ganz hübsch" [10] ("quite nice"). Later he elaborated his advice, encouraging Strauss to "take a good look at Schubert's dances," to guard against "thematic irrelevances," and that there "is no point in this piling up of many themes which are only contrasted rhythmically on a single triad." [11] Béla Bartók's Concerto for Orchestra contains "an interesting resemblance between a canon for trumpets and horns in three pairs a quaver apart in the slow movement and the canon for brass in the first movement," [12] something which was first noticed by Theodore Bloomfield. [13]
Although Strauss's musical style moved on from his second symphony, he did occasionally program it later in his life, for example conducting it on 28 February 1899 in Heidelberg, and again on 29 January 1903 with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam. [14] On 5 November 1935, he also made a radio broadcast with the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra. [15] Strauss recorded some of his own compositions, but this symphony was not among them and the 1935 radio broadcast recording is currently lost. The few conductors to record this symphony are Michael Halasz, Neeme Järvi, Karl Anton Rickenbacher, Hiroshi Wakasugi and Sebastian Weigle. A version for piano duet has also been recorded.
The Symphony No. 6 in A minor by Gustav Mahler is a symphony in four movements, composed in 1903 and 1904, with revisions from 1906. It is sometimes nicknamed the Tragic ("Tragische"), though the origin of the name is unclear.
The Piano Quintet in F minor, Op. 34, by Johannes Brahms was completed during the summer of 1864 and published in 1865. It was dedicated to Her Royal Highness Princess Anna of Hesse. As with most piano quintets composed after Robert Schumann's Piano Quintet (1842), it is written for piano and string quartet.
Anton Bruckner's Symphony No. 5 in B-flat major WAB 105, was written in 1875–1876, with minor changes over the next two years. It came at a time of trouble and disillusion for the composer: a lawsuit, from which he was exonerated, and a reduction in salary. Dedicated to Karl von Stremayr, education minister in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the symphony has at times been nicknamed the "Tragic", the "Church of Faith" or the "Pizzicato"; Bruckner himself referred to it as the "Fantastic" without applying this or any other name formally.
Anton Bruckner's Symphony No. 7 in E major, WAB 107, is one of the composer's best-known symphonies. It was written between 1881 and 1883 and was revised in 1885. It is dedicated to Ludwig II of Bavaria. The premiere, given under Arthur Nikisch and the Gewandhaus Orchestra in the opera house at Leipzig on 30 December 1884, brought Bruckner the greatest success he had known in his life. The symphony is sometimes referred to as the "Lyric", though the appellation is not the composer's own, and is seldom used.
Anton Bruckner's Symphony No. 2 in C minor, sometimes known as the "Symphony of Pauses", was completed in 1872. It was actually the fourth symphony composed by Bruckner, after the Symphony in F minor (1863), the Symphony No. 1 in C minor (1866), and the Symphony in D minor (1869).
Anton Bruckner's Symphony No. 3 in D minor, WAB 103, was dedicated to Richard Wagner and is sometimes known as his "Wagner Symphony". It was written in 1873, revised in 1877 and again in 1889.
Anton Bruckner's Symphony No. 4 in E-flat major, WAB 104, is one of the composer's most popular works. It was written in 1874 and revised several times through 1888. It was dedicated to Prince Konstantin of Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst. It was premiered in 1881 by Hans Richter in Vienna to great acclaim.
Ein Heldenleben, Op. 40, is a tone poem by Richard Strauss. The work was completed in 1898. It was his eighth work in the genre, and exceeded any of its predecessors in its orchestral demands. Generally agreed to be autobiographical in nature despite contradictory statements on the matter by the composer, the work contains more than thirty quotations from Strauss's earlier works, including Also sprach Zarathustra, Till Eulenspiegel, Don Quixote, Don Juan, and Death and Transfiguration.
The Violin Concerto in D minor, Op. 8, is a concertante work written from 1881 to 1882 by the German composer Richard Strauss.
The Symphony No. 9 in E minor was the last symphony written by the English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams. He composed it during 1956 and 1957, and it was given its premiere performance in London by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Sir Malcolm Sargent on 2 April 1958, in the composer's eighty-sixth year. The work was received respectfully but, at first, without great enthusiasm. Its reputation has subsequently grown, and the symphony has entered the repertoire, in the concert hall and on record, with the majority of recordings from the 1990s and the 21st century.
The Concerto in D major for Oboe and Small Orchestra, AV 144, TrV 292, was written by Richard Strauss in 1945. It was one of the last works he composed near the end of his life, during what is often described by biographers, journalists and music critics as his "Indian summer."
Anton Bruckner's Symphony in F minor, WAB 99, was written in 1863, at the end of his study period in form and orchestration by Otto Kitzler.
Symphony No. 2 in E minor was written by Wilhelm Furtwängler between 1945 and 1946 in Switzerland. It is in four movements:
The String Quartet in C minor WAB 111, was composed by Anton Bruckner's in 1862 during his tuition by Otto Kitzler.
The Symphony No. 2 in D-flat major, Opus 30, W45, "Romantic", was written by Howard Hanson on commission from Serge Koussevitzky for the 50th anniversary of the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1930, and published by Carl Fischer Music.
The Symphony in D minor, WAB 100, was composed by Anton Bruckner in 1869 between Symphony No. 1 (1866) and Symphony No. 2 (1872). In 1895 Bruckner declared that this symphony "gilt nicht" and he did not assign a number to it. The work was published and premiered in 1924.
Richard Strauss composed his Symphony No. 1 in D minor in 1880 when he was just 16 years old. It consists of four movements, and lasts about 34 minutes. Although Strauss did not give a number to the symphony, it is often referred to as his First Symphony. It was premiered on 30 March 1881 at the Munich Academy of Music under the baton of Hermann Levi.
Richard Strauss composed his Cello Sonata in F major, Op. 6, TrV 115, in 1883 when he was 19 years old. It was dedicated to the Czech cellist Hanuš Wihan, who gave the premiere in 1883. It rapidly became a standard part of the cello repertoire.
Richard Strauss composed his Horn Concerto No. 2 in E-flat major, whilst living in Vienna in 1942. The work was premiered in 1943 at the Salzburg Festival and was recorded in 1944, both with solo horn Gottfried von Freiberg. The score was published by Boosey & Hawkes of London in 1950. It was taken up and popularised by the British horn player Dennis Brain. It has since become the most performed and recorded horn concerto of the 20th century.
The Duet-Concertino for clarinet and bassoon, TrV 293, with string orchestra and harp in F major, was written by Richard Strauss in 1946/47 and premiered in 1948. It is the last purely instrumental work he wrote.
