Brahms Symphony No. 2 & Symphony No. 4

Brahms’s Second Symphony has been nicknamed his ‘Pastoral’; it is lyrical and mainly in major keys. The three notes heard at the opening of the work generate most of the melodic material throughout the symphony, and the second theme of the first movement references the composer’s famous lullaby.

Brahms’s final symphony was one of his last orchestral works.His close friend Clara Schumann wrote to him: ‘My heart is full to overflowing about your symphony… its beauty and richness of colour have held me spellbound.’

This recording is conducted by the Philharmonia’s Honorary Conductor for Life, Christoph von Dohnányi.