Symphony No. 2 (Furtwängler)
Encyclopedia
Symphony No. 2 in E minor was written by Wilhelm Furtwängler
Wilhelm Furtwängler
Wilhelm Furtwängler was a German conductor and composer. He is widely considered to have been one of the greatest symphonic and operatic conductors of the 20th century. By the 1930s he had built a reputation as one of the leading conductors in Europe, and he was the leading conductor who remained...

 between 1945 and 1946. After quitting his conducting posts in Germany and Austria in protest of Nazi cultural policy, Furtwängler moved to Switzerland, where he wrote this symphony. It is in four movements:
  1. Assai moderato
  2. Andante semplice
  3. Allegro - Moderato - Allegro
  4. Langsam - Moderato andante - Allegro molto - Moderato - Langsam - Moderato - Presto


The outer movements are in sonata form
Sonata form
Sonata form is a large-scale musical structure used widely since the middle of the 18th century . While it is typically used in the first movement of multi-movement pieces, it is sometimes used in subsequent movements as well—particularly the final movement...

. The third movement, although not specifically referred to as such by Furtwängler, is a scherzo
Scherzo
A scherzo is a piece of music, often a movement from a larger piece such as a symphony or a sonata. The scherzo's precise definition has varied over the years, but it often refers to a movement which replaces the minuet as the third movement in a four-movement work, such as a symphony, sonata, or...

 with trio. Unlike Bruckner, Furtwängler makes smooth transitions into and out of the trio.

Like Furtwängler's other symphonic works, the Symphony No. 2 is very rarely performed. Roughly 80 minutes in length, the work is heavily indebted to the late-Romantic style of composers like Anton Bruckner
Anton Bruckner
Anton Bruckner was an Austrian composer known for his symphonies, masses, and motets. The first are considered emblematic of the final stage of Austro-German Romanticism because of their rich harmonic language, complex polyphony, and considerable length...

 and Richard Wagner
Richard Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas...

. As one commentator has observed, most of Furtwängler's works "are of Brucknerian length but, devoid of Brucknerian genius, few have the material to sustain such proportions."
However, the symphony also has its strong partisans: Eugen Jochum
Eugen Jochum
Eugen Jochum was an eminent German conductor.Born in Babenhausen, near Augsburg, Germany, Jochum studied the piano and organ in Augsburg until 1922. He then studied conducting in Munich...

 has recorded this work with Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra
Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra
The Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, in German Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks is the internationally renowned orchestra of the Bayerischer Rundfunk , based in Munich, Germany. It is one of the three principal orchestras in the city of Munich, along with the Munich Philharmonic...

 in 1954, there is another recording made by Daniel Barenboim
Daniel Barenboim
Daniel Barenboim, KBE is an Argentinian-Israeli pianist and conductor. He has served as music director of several major symphonic and operatic orchestras and made numerous recordings....

 and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and Arthur Honegger
Arthur Honegger
Arthur Honegger was a Swiss composer, who was born in France and lived a large part of his life in Paris. He was a member of Les six. His most frequently performed work is probably the orchestral work Pacific 231, which is interpreted as imitating the sound of a steam locomotive.-Biography:Born...

wrote of this work, "The man who can write a score as rich as [this] is not to be argued about. He is of the race of great musicians."

Furtwängler himself recorded his Symphony No. 2 in a studio with the Berlin Philharmonic in 1952, and again with the Vienna Philharmonic, live, in 1953. The live recording was released on the Orfeo label. A final and considerably reworked interpretation by Furtwangler exists with the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra from March, 1954.
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