Clearly I need to do a better job of planning for this feature! Anyway, Johannes Brahms’s Symphony #2 in D has always been my favorite of his four symphonies, although #1 is always right there behind it in strong contention. The #2, though, is generally conceded to be the ‘sunniest’ of Brahms’s symphonies, and that’s saying something, because Brahms is not a composer known for long moments of optimism. Such moments abide in this symphony. Below is the symphony in its complete form, as played by what appears to be a youth orchestra from someplace in Asia.
You know what? I had a hart time picking which performance to use for this post, because there are a ton of good ones on YouTube, and I was down to this one or one other. But it’s my blog and there’s no reason to impose any arbitary limits, so if you feel like hearing the same symphony in the hands of a different orchestra, a European one this time, listen to this one, also wonderful. (This one splits the first movement across two videos.)
I always listen to these at work. One of my favorite features of yours.