Immediately after finishing his First Symphony in B flat major op. 38, Robert Schumann wrote the present D minor Symphony in 1841. Despite its successful world premiere at the Leipzig Gewandhaus on 4 December 1841, this first version remained unpublished during the composer's lifetime.

It took the great Johannes Brahms himself to recognize its qualities and commit himself actively and successfully to a renewed performance in 1889. We owe it to the many supporters of the two versions that they...