During composition of his First Symphony, Brahms was still very much under Beethoven's influence; in his Second Symphony he loosened the ties considerably.

The principle of motivic embellishment now infuses not just the development section but the whole of the first movement. In the following movements, too, everything appears to be interrelated.

The premiere in Vienna's Musikverein was one of the greatest triumphs of Brahms's career, and he wrote enthusiastically: "The orchestra here reh...