b'immediate symphonic predecessor, Ludwig van Beethoven. When asked about a forthcoming symphony, Brahms said, You have no idea what its like to hear the footsteps of a giant like that behindyou.Once it was written and premiered, after twenty years in the making, Brahms first symphony was immediately recognized as the greatest symphony written since Beethovens ninth symphony which was premiered more than fifty years earlier. After he realized the success of the work, he gained the confidence he needed to quickly write his Symphony No. 2 in D Major, Op.73, which he completed about four months later. He composed the Symphony No. 2 while on summer vacation in the tiny Austrian town of Prtschach at Lake Wrth. After hearing it played at the piano, a friend of the composer responded by writing, "It is all rippling streams, blue sky, sunshine and cool green shadows. How beautiful it must be at Prtschach!Brahms often joked around, giving blatant mischaracterizations about his new works. He wrote to his publisher about the second symphony saying, It will at all events be a proper flop, and people will say that this time I took it easy, and, The new symphony is so melancholy that you wont stand it. I have never written anything so sad, so minor-ish: the score must appear with a black border.One conductor, in a letter to Brahms, asked the composer the reason for the timpani and low brass creating dark moments in the opening of the symphony, suggesting they be removed. In response Brahms wrote:I would have to confess that I am, by the by, a severely melancholic person, that black wings are constantly flapping above us.It casts the necessary shadow on the serene symphony and perhaps accounts for those timpani and trombones. He then quickly adds, All this, and especially that one passage, I ask you not to take altogether too seriously and tragically!The mood of the second symphony can be described as sunny in its disposition. It is often referred to as his pastoral symphony, a reference to Beethovens sixth symphony. While the second symphony does have darker moments, they are brief and add depth and meaning to the symphony, possibly suggesting that joy and beauty can exist in an imperfect world. Instrumentationtwo flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, two trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, and stringsDuration43 minutes~Kenneth BeanAssistant ConductorPrinceton Symphony Orchestraprincetonsymphony.org/ 15/ princetonfestival.org'