Uploaded April 2012 | Updated September 2026, 20 hours ago
Beethoven - Symphonie No.2 Ludwig van Beethoven's Symphony No. 2 in D major (Op. 36) was written between 1801 and 1802 and is dedicated to Prince Lichnowsky.
Beethoven's Second Symphony was mostly written during Beethoven's stay at Heiligenstadt in 1802, at which time his deafness was becoming more apparent and he began to realize that it might be incurable. The work was premiered in the Theater an der Wien in Vienna on 5 April 1803, and was conducted by the composer. During that same concert, the Third Piano Concerto and the oratorio Christ on the Mount of Olives were also debuted.[1] It is one of the last works of Beethoven's so-called "early period".
Beethoven wrote the Second Symphony without a standard minuet; instead, a scherzo took its place, giving the composition even greater scope and energy. The scherzo and the finale are filled with vulgar Beethovenian musical jokes, which shocked the sensibilities of many contemporary critics. One Viennese critic for the Zeitung fuer die elegante Welt (Newspaper for the Elegant World) famously wrote of the Symphony that it was "a hideously writhing, wounded dragon that refuses to die, but writhing in its last agonies and, in the fourth movement, bleeding to death."
Instrumentation
The symphony is scored for two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets in A, two bassoons, two horns in D and E, two trumpets in D, timpani and strings. The composer also made a transcription of the entire symphony for piano trio which bears the same opus number.
Form
This symphony consists of four movements:
Adagio molto, 3/4 -- Allegro con brio, 4/4
Larghetto, 3/8 in A major
Scherzo: Allegro, 3/4
Allegro molto, 2/2
Beethoven - Symphonie No.2 Ludwig van Beethoven's Symphony No. 2 in D major (Op. 36) was written between 1801 and 1802 and is dedicated to Prince Lichnowsky.
Beethoven's Second Symphony was mostly written during Beethoven's stay at Heiligenstadt in 1802, at which time his deafness was becoming more apparent and he began to realize that it might be incurable. The work was premiered in the Theater an der Wien in Vienna on 5 April 1803, and was conducted by the composer. During that same concert, the Third Piano Concerto and the oratorio Christ on the Mount of Olives were also debuted.[1] It is one of the last works of Beethoven's so-called "early period".
Beethoven wrote the Second Symphony without a standard minuet; instead, a scherzo took its place, giving the composition even greater scope and energy. The scherzo and the finale are filled with vulgar Beethovenian musical jokes, which shocked the sensibilities of many contemporary critics. One Viennese critic for the Zeitung fuer die elegante Welt (Newspaper for the Elegant World) famously wrote of the Symphony that it was "a hideously writhing, wounded dragon that refuses to die, but writhing in its last agonies and, in the fourth movement, bleeding to death."
Instrumentation
The symphony is scored for two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets in A, two bassoons, two horns in D and E, two trumpets in D, timpani and strings. The composer also made a transcription of the entire symphony for piano trio which bears the same opus number.
Form
This symphony consists of four movements:
Adagio molto, 3/4 -- Allegro con brio, 4/4
Larghetto, 3/8 in A major
Scherzo: Allegro, 3/4
Allegro molto, 2/2
