An Interview With Julia Tai

By Joe Nickell, MSO percussionist & program notes author

Joe: Tell me a bit about your earliest memories that relate to how you became a musician and a conductor.

Julia: I joke that I became a musician before I was born. My mother was a high school music teacher and also a music director at a church, so she took me to rehearsals in her womb, and I had probably been to hundreds of rehearsals before I was born. I definitely grew up in a musical family. My parents love music. My dad's not a professional musician, but he loves singing in the choir. My sister plays the cello. I started violin lessons when I was 4. My parents liked us to accompany the choir so we could go to rehearsals instead of hiring a babysitter. As soon as I could play a tune, we were accompanying the choir and playing in orchestras.

So, music is definitely my second language and I grew up with it.

For conducting it actually came later for me and was not very straightforward. I started studying voice when I was 14, and I actually went to the University of Southern California to study vocal arts performance. I was singing in operas at the time, and I started conducting a church choir when I was a sophomore in college to earn some extra income. I started being interested in conducting, but I didn't meet my conducting teacher, Jorge Mester, until I was in my master's program. He was conducting an opera at school that I was singing in, and I approached him to see if I could study more formally with him. He gave me an audition and accepted me into his studio.

The very specific moment that I remember that I thought that this is what I'm going to do for the rest of my life was sitting in the middle of the orchestra. They were playing Strauss, Ein Heldenleben, and the sound, the beauty of the colors of orchestra — I remember tears coming down my cheeks, thinking that I want to do this.

So that started my journey. I later got a doctorate in orchestral conducting from the University of Washington and then started freelancing. That’s where I am now, 10 years later or 15 years later.

I would assume you noticed along the way that at least on orchestral podiums there weren't many women. Why do you personally think that is, and how has that affected you?

I think there are two sides. I think one side is that conducting, for a lot of people — especially from the audience point of view — is kind of an image. It's not like playing violin where you either play the note or you miss it; you don't have a basic line to judge. Musicians know whether they got what they want from a conductor or how well they run the rehearsals, but from an audience perspective I think it's kind of an image. So, especially going from the older era where we have Karajan and Bernstein, those people who are so charismatic, and basically, they are viewed kind of like gods. And whatever they said nobody dared to diverge from it. It's kind of this powerful, authoritative image that people have traditionally felt conductors should be like.

I think for a woman conductor to not fit that bill, that could be part of why it is harder for people to accept.

The other side of it is the education because how the conducting world has worked is that you have a mentor who took you under your wing, and if the conductor of New York Philharmonic decided to help you, then they would give you an opportunity because for conductors it's hard to get that opportunity to stand in front of people before you have experience. So, it's kind of a catch-22. You don't ever get experience because you never stand in front of an orchestra, and then you don't get an orchestra because you don't have experience.

I have been to many international conducting festivals where I was the only female among 20 participants. I get along with men pretty well, but that's kind of a boy club kind of feel that you're trying to fit in because you're the only woman. You do feel a little bit on the outside a lot of the time. So, those are kind of the things that you're working with and have to overcome as a woman conductor.

But I think, like you said, things are changing. There are more and more opportunities for women. So, it's good that I think that image is change what conductors should look like, and at the same time the whole culture is changing.

I think even this day in age, the old school is where the conductor has absolute authority. I think kind of the new way, I always feel like conducting is a collaboration, not a dictatorship. I hope to inspire the musicians or put out this road map of how we achieve the vision of how this piece should sound like. Because I'm also always waiting for the musicians to inspire me by their playing, their phrasing, their tone. I think it should be a two-way street. Everybody contributes to making this orchestra and this performance a success, not just the conductor controlling everything. That changes the model of how orchestra conductors and orchestral musicians work.

I like that. And definitely you see more diversity on the podium, you see more diversity in orchestras. Maybe not as much in audiences though these days. In particular, it seems like orchestras continue to struggle to really connect with a broad demographic of people, both in terms of age and also socioeconomic level. Why do you think that is? What can be done about that do you think?

I think definitely the culture is changing around us, and so the culture of a symphony orchestra also has to change. I think it used to be orchestras are kind of just on this shrine in the concert hall. And this idea that people should come to us because it's a very special event. Back in the day they wear a tuxedo or something. There's a kind of formality that's associated with the symphony; and a lot of the younger generation, young adults, they maybe are not attracted to that formality.

I think times have changed, and symphonies shouldn't sit in their concert hall waiting for people to come to them. It's the other way around, really. That they need to go out and reach people. Orchestras are starting to do this around the country. So things like, you play in different venues than just the concert hall. Or you have smaller events in coffee shops and bars. Those are all ways to reach out to the audience.

I think it's first understanding what your audience likes and who they are and creating events that tailor to what they're attracted to doing. It's not that we are changing how we play music, the music itself is still the same, and it's still great; we're just changing how we present it. So, I think definitely getting to know your audience is important to help reach those people who are not already your core supporters.

Also, I think a lot of people, even people who've never been to a symphony concert, they have exposure to symphonic music, they just don't know it. A lot of the video games have fabulous music. The movies too. I think they have that symphonic sound in their ears. They've heard it, they appreciate it, even liked it maybe, they just didn't know how to appreciate it. So, a lot of times you break away all the formality or what they perceive what that concert is like, then maybe when they get to the music itself, they would really like it.

Ultimately, to reach a more diverse audience you have to have diverse offerings of different type of events and music. You can't please everybody with one type of concert, so you create many different types and people will find what they like.

Talk to me about your programming philosophy. What inspired the program for this concert, and then how would you see yourself approaching a whole season with the orchestra?

I always look for ways to mix things up, the new and the old, and create a season or concert that has diversity. So, for example, with this concert I set out to do all American music. Of course Bernstein, Gershwin we know really well. These giants who we admire for their amazing, beautiful music. But then who else is out there that we've never heard of, who would add a different element?

That’s how I came to Amy Beach. I have played her chamber music in the past, and she wrote beautiful songs as well. She also wrote a couple of symphonies, and her most famous one is the “Gaelic” Symphony. It was premiered by the Boston Symphony in 1896, and she was the first female composer that gained public attention. She was a child prodigy, a pianist, and she wrote this beautiful, luscious music. You could hear those Wagnerian chords, and really bold and luscious harmonies. The beautiful melody, she was answering a call from Dvořák saying, that Americans have to find the music that is distinctly their own, and so she went back to her Celtic roots and found a lot of great material that she incorporated into her symphony. It’s just a host of beautiful melodies that she was able to transform and connect from one to the other.

It's a beautiful piece, and I don't know why it's not in the mainstream of famous symphonies. Even the Seattle Symphony — I was talking to one of the players the other day and he said they’ve never done this symphony that he knows of. And yet this was such a formative part of American music. It's part of a generation of Americans writing in this Romantic language that kind of was dominating Europe at the time.

So that’s something I love to do is just make new discoveries and bring them to audiences. When you mix new things with familiar things, you can hear the familiar things with fresh ears. So, that's always been a part of my philosophy. I don't like concerts where the music is all from the same era, or all from the same family of musical language.

In terms of a whole season, I have always thought about how much diversity I could put in a season. Diversity from different periods. From Baroque, Classical, Romantic to Contemporary; women and men composers; composers of different backgrounds and ethnicity. How can I create a season that is interesting?

I often think of music the way you think of food. You can love Italian food, but you may not want pasta every day for the rest of your life. So you have Italian food one night, and you have Chinese food the other night, you have French food or Mexican food. So, for a whole season of concerts, what flavors can you offer that is fresh to the audience while also making sure you give them a taste of their favorite things. People who love living composers and love talking to them, they find something in the season.

People who are Romantic music fans or Baroque music fans, they have something in the season for them. That is always what I'm thinking of when I program. How do I mix all these different things up and create a wonderful dish that everybody will like.

Let's talk a little bit about your role off of the podium in the community and with your organization. How do you view that in a small community like this?

What a conductor does off the podium is, in some ways, much more important than what the conductor does on the podium. The rehearsals and the concerts are only really 20 percent of the job. The other 80 percent is going out in the community to develop relationships — personal, organizational — and to really listen to the people about what they like, what they want, what they need. When we were going to start an outreach program at my chamber orchestra here in Seattle, I went to a lot of schools and talked to the music teacher. I asked them questions about what kind of programs are already offered and what can we do that they don't have and wish you had. That kind of information and relationship is so important. As a conductor, I gain programming ideas by talking to people, and what kind of concerts they fancy.

Every community is different, and the most important job for the conductor is really to go out there and talk to people to understand the community and how the symphony can be a part of it.

As far as working with musicians in an orchestra like the MSO, how do you go about working with and getting the best out of musicians who aren't generally doing this as their primary form of living?

I have worked with orchestras of all different levels, from college orchestras to professional orchestras. In Seattle there are 20-plus community orchestras. I'm always so amazed at how people outside of their full-time job find the energy and the interest to really practice hard and sound good. A lot of my chamber orchestra, Philharmonia Northwest, is made up of community members — lawyers and engineers and such. But they want to keep that level of playing because that's where they find enjoyment. I'm always amazed at how dedicated people are working 40, or some lawyers, 60-hour weeks, and then they find the time to practice, and show up to rehearsals, and play those fantastic concerts.

I think the important thing for community orchestras, more than the professional orchestra, is that everybody comes for one mission and that is the enjoyment of music. Yes, they work very hard, but they really enjoy the process and being able to deliver a very polished product. They feel like they could create something that's enjoyable and meaningful for the community. And I think that is an important mission, and if everybody has that in mind, then it's easy. Everybody has the same goals and visions, and we can come together so much easier.

With the community orchestra, what's amazing is that they come because they want to. Everybody's in the orchestra because they want to. They're not being forced to. Everybody there wants to make a difference.

Well I want to wrap this up, but I see that I left out one of the most important questions that of course everybody in the audience is going to be scanning through this interview to see. What is your favorite music and/or composers of all time?

Oh, it's so hard to pick a favorite! But I've always loved Gustav Mahler because his music is so large in scale. Those masterpieces that when you listen to them, you’re listening to a piece that is bigger than life, bigger than time. And Mahler's Sixth Symphony for sure. I think there was some difficult times in my life, and to hear Mahler’s Sixth it's like: This is why we're doing this. It's so powerful. Every time, if I feel like I'm not quite sure why I do what I do, I'll go back to that piece and be reminded: This is why.

Of course, I love many different composers and genres as well, but that piece has a very special place.

An Interview With Steven Smith

By Joe Nickell, MSO percussionist & program notes author

Joe: Tell me about your earliest memories that relate to how you chose to become a musician and conductor.

Steven: My mom was an amateur pianist. Actually, she was pretty well accomplished. My dad played trombone in his high school band. They loved music. They attended the symphony regularly; and there was always music on. So music was always a part of our household and our life. My brother and I both picked up instruments in school when it was time to do so. I certainly remember going to certain concerts when I was a kid that made impressions on me. But I wouldn't say that there's one specific instance that sent me down the path of being a musician. It was more gradual.

I started playing the violin when I was in fourth grade. It really was in high school where I first got interested in conducting. I also started to compose music when I got into high school. The other thing that really kind of changed my musical life when I was in high school is that, when I was a freshman the band director came around and said, "We don't have anybody to play the tuba. Is anybody interested?" And I thought, "Well, that's kind of intriguing." So I started playing tuba in the band as well as violin in the orchestra. All of a sudden, I saw the ensemble from the other side, and it just completely opened up my mind and my ears to all this stuff that was going on in large ensembles. So I started going to a library and getting out scores and recordings, I was composing, and I became interested in conducting. I had band and orchestra directors who were more than happy to let me give it a shot. So that was really when I first got the conducting bug.

I still wasn't really sure that I wanted to go into it professionally. I was also really interested in architecture actually. That probably would have been my alternate career had I not gone into music. But then I went to a summer camp after my junior year in Brevard, North Carolina. For the first time in my life, I really had the experience of just being immersed in music all day long, every single day. Here I was playing Mahler symphonies and all this stuff, which just kind of knocked my socks off. So I completely rethought everything and I realized, "This is actually kind of a cool way to spend your life if it's possible." I was not naive about its difficulty as a profession, but I did decide that I'd like to go to music school, and I'd like to pursue this.

I ended up going to the Eastman School of Music as a violin major. Eastman was a perfect place for me because it had so many different kinds of programs. I wanted to take jazz improvisation, and I wanted to study composition and electronic music. There was early music. There was late music. I've always been interested in contemporary music. So it was really great because it gave me the opportunity to kind of dabble in a lot of different things.

After that, I played professionally for a while as a concertmaster in the Grand Rapids Symphony. I was there for five years altogether. Along about the last couple of years, I began to get a little antsy, I guess. I could imagine myself waking up one day, 20 years later and still being there and at that point I decided there are other things I wanted to pursue—composing and conducting, specifically. So I ended up leaving that job and went back to school at the Cleveland Institute of Music, studying both composition and conducting. That sort of led me on to the second part of my career as a conductor.

How did your experience as a musician influence your approach as a conductor?

I think that my experience playing in orchestras definitely influenced the way I began to think about it when I was on the podium. I've always thought about it as more of a collaborative facilitator rather than a dictator. That's always been an important part of the role to me is bringing everyone together in the spirit of this great music that we're pursuing. It's really more about the service of the composer and connecting a composer to the audience, as a kind of medium.

You've worked with some big orchestras—they hardly get much bigger than Cleveland Orchestra of course. Talk to me about working with a community orchestra, how you see that relationship differing?

I think that there is a real personal and emotional connection in a lot of smaller, community orchestras to the music that we're performing. Because many of the people playing in the orchestra have other networks of friends and associates in the community, that actually leads to a more powerful connection between the orchestra as a performing organization and its audience. I think that's incredibly healthy because I think it enriches the entire aspect of musical performance, making it a kind of communal experience. It’s all of us together. In my experience, I've often had those kinds of experiences most powerfully in what are perceived as smaller orchestras.

It does seem like a balancing act, though, how to go about getting the best out of people. Do you think that there's a different approach when you're talking to musicians who haven’t played Brahms’ Second Symphony before and who are only able to practice in the evenings and aren’t generally getting paid enough to justify it as “work” per se?

Absolutely. The way that I approach that is maybe with a little bit more of an educator hat on, in the sense that there's a lot of background knowledge about Brahms or about style or about the political or the natural world of the time—all the different things that inform how you should understand and approach the music. Then, of course, there's nuts and bolts stuff about technique and balance and so-on. Conducting the Cleveland Orchestra, I really didn't have to say much to them. So that's fun in its own way. It's like driving a Maserati. But all these different levels of experience are enriching in different ways. In my life, I've found that this variety of experience is what makes life more interesting.

Talk to me about your programming philosophy, both in terms of what inspired the program for this concert and how you imagine or generally try to approach a whole season.

If I had to sum it up, I believe in a season’s program there has to be enough variety that there is something for everybody. I think that it's important to have a breadth of styles, a breadth of time periods, a breadth of who the composers are. To be able to play more female composers, composers of color, I think is a really, really important thing. Not only present-day composers, but those in the past who've been ignored for whatever reason. It gives different audience members the opportunity to hear things that they naturally gravitate towards while also being immersed in new experiences. I'm personally fascinated by the juxtaposition of lots of different kinds of pieces. I think it's important from the standpoint of current audience members as well as new members, and also the orchestra—having all of these different varieties of music to play.

So specifically, about this concert’s program, it exemplifies that kind of variety that I'm talking about. We have four different nationalities among the composers, and a couple of different eras. It's essentially Romantic and Modern. Borodin representing the Russian tradition brings something that's coloristically very, very different from the other composers. If I had a thematic device in mind, it was the idea of these composers all creating a sense of place. The big piece, of course, the Brahms Second Symphony, is very much a piece about nature. It's maybe one of the sunniest and most idyllic of all Brahms’ works. That's something I've always loved about it. It was written over a summer holiday in the mountains in Austria, and it seemed to be an appropriate thing to play in the mountains of Montana. For me, music is very connected to the natural world. I find them inextricably connected in terms of spirit, in terms of color, imagination, and I think that this particular symphony of Brahms is very, very true in that regard.

The Berlioz piece is a great concert opener. So that was certainly one consideration. But it's very much a depiction of Berlioz's own experience of carnival in Rome when he was a young man—so again, very reminiscent of a time and place. Similarly, Borodin’s music connects very much to the folk music and dance of his native land. And the Copland songs are rooted in folk song history and popular songs and religious songs.

You mentioned Copland as a modern composer, and yet of course, he passed away a couple of decades ago at this point. Talk to me about why it is that in today's concert hall, we don't hear a lot of modern music. What are the issues there, and what do you feel is the role of an orchestra like the Missoula Symphony in potentially changing that—if it needs to be changed?

It's a huge topic, of course. If you look back 100 years or so ago, there was a lot more music performed that was being written at that time and place. Recently there's been a lot of hand-wringing over the last number of decades about the "graying" of the audience. Now, a lot of research has actually shown that in most cases, the average audience age isn't significantly different today than it ever was. But the big difference between those previous eras and our present era is the lack of education in the arts that is provided. Now, we have generations of people who reach the age when they might be more likely to go to the symphony, but they have never had any experience whatsoever with a symphony orchestra. So how do we expect them to all of a sudden decide to come to an orchestra concert?

I think, over time, that has skewed programming towards being "safer," so to speak. More conservative. In the desire to not want to make waves or be perceived as being too far out of the norm, I think orchestras have become very conservative. I think it's actually been a disservice. I don't think that it does help the idea of building audience. I think that being able to perform a wide variety of music by a wide variety of composers is ultimately more attractive to a wider audience.

I think that this doesn't have anything to do with whether the music is "dissonant" or wild and experimental because these subjective terms mean something very different to different people. But I think, ultimately, our responsibility, and especially in smaller communities and orchestras, is that we create personal relationships and collaborations in the community that draw the orchestra closer to the community, both in the sense of being a community resource, but also in being looked upon as a source for interesting and exciting and entertaining and thought-provoking programs. And modern music obviously has a role to play in making those connections and generating that excitement.

The other thing that I'm really excited about these days is the wealth of music being written for the orchestra by composers who are from non-western traditions and who are blending together these various traditions from the Middle East, from India, from Java and Bali with the gamelan. There's just this amazing new body of orchestral repertoire that's being written that is truly global in nature. It’s been really cool to meet some of these composers and to discover others and to learn about some of this music.

There are more composers writing music of a wider variety of styles today than there has ever been in history. I find that just hugely exciting as well as a great opportunity for developing new audience.

So, you knew it was coming: tell me your favorite composer or piece of music.

It's so hard. It's so hard. I can just never come up with one. It's almost impossible. So I will say that two of my favorite composers are represented on this concert, which are Berlioz and Brahms. They're by far two of my most favorites; but I would also put in that category Beethoven, who is very important to me. I love Haydn, Mahler, Ives, Debussy. But once I start going down the list I can't stop coming up with other favorites. Two of my favorite operas are probably two of the most popular, which are The Marriage of Figaro and Carmen, which I think are just absolutely perfect in so many different ways. But then one of the greatest pieces ever written is Bach’s Chaconne for solo violin, which is just an astounding piece of music. So it's just almost impossible to narrow it down.

PROGRAM NOTES

Download Large Print Program Notes Here

Pass the Baton - Steven Smith
November 2 & 3, 2019

Clef Notes

Berlioz — ¬Le carnaval romain

In this richly pictorial music drawn from his debut opera, the early 19th century French composer sought to depict the colors and excitement of the Roman carnival.

Copland — Old American Songs

America’s first internationally celebrated composer, Copland made his name through music like this: simple, unforgettable melodies and harmonies rooted in the folk music of his native country.

Borodin — Polovtsian Dances

These scenes from the 19th century Russian composer’s grand opera Prince Igor depict the sensuality and patriotism of the Polovtsian people as they entertain the opera’s titular character.

Brahms — Symphony No. 2

One of the most beloved works of the German Romantic-era repertoire, Brahms’ symphony captures the pastoral beauty and warmth of the Austrian mountain resort where it was penned during the summer of 1877.

Program Notes: Joe Nickell

Hector Berlioz — ¬Le carnaval romain

Louis-Hector Berlioz’s first major splash came in 1830 when his cantata, La Mort de Sardanapale, won the prestigious Prix de Rome. The prize included two years of studies at the French Academy in Rome. Alas, Berlioz’s studies in Rome ended almost as soon as they began: after three weeks he left the academy upon learning that his fiancé, Marie Moke, had broken off their engagement. Perhaps this experience colored his experience of Rome, which he would later recall as “the most stupid and prosaic city I know; it is no place for anyone with head or heart.”

In 1838, back in Paris and recovered from his heartbreak, Berlioz penned his first opera, Benvenuto Cellini, inspired by the memoirs of the Florentine sculptor of the same name. The opera, set in Rome, was poorly received at its premiere. The composer later reworked some of the opera’s music, including its carnival scene, into a standalone concert piece that has become a staple of the orchestral repertoire: Le carnaval romain (The Roman Carnival).

The joyful and pictorial overture begins with a hint of a dance, followed by a famous solo for English horn that is based on a melody drawn from a first-act love scene in the opera. This sumptuous section leads into the main body of the overture, which is built in the lively form of a saltarello—a triple-meter Italian dance named for its quick, leaping steps. The music swirls and gallops ever forward, leading to an exciting climax and conclusion.

Aaron Copland — Old American Songs (excerpts)

Aaron Copland was born in Brooklyn in 1900. As a young composer, he was anxious to write in a style “that would immediately be recognized as American in character.” At the same time, he was troubled by what he termed “an increasing dissatisfaction with the relations of the music-loving public and the living composers…It seemed to me that we composers were in danger of working in a vacuum.”

Copland therefore endeavored to write music which would appeal to a broad audience, and to reach listeners through new means. His worldwide success bore out the rightness of his vision: through works such as Rodeo and Appalachian Spring he became America’s best-known composer of the 20th century.

In 1950, Copland was asked by the famous English composer Benjamin Britten to arrange some folk songs for performance at the Music and Art Festival in Aldeburgh, England. Copland responded with a set of five songs, each based on a traditional American tune. They were so well-received that Copland wrote another set of five songs two years later.

We will hear four of the songs, of which at least one will be familiar to any churchgoer: “At the River,” also known as “Shall We Gather at the River,” an old hymn tune originally written by the American composer Robert Lowry. In “Long Time Ago,” Copland plumbs the nostalgic depths of a lyrical ballad that he found in a collection of old songs at Brown University. “Zion’s Walls” is a revivalist tune originally by the 19th century Georgia farmer John G. McCurry. “Ching-A-Ring Chaw” comes from the old minstrel blackface tradition; however, for his setting Copland rewrote the lyrics to remove its racist implications.

Alexander Borodin — Polovtsian Dances

Alexander Borodin’s first major work was titled, “On the Analogy between Arsenic Acid and Phosphoric Acid in Chemical and Toxological Behavior.” Like Berlioz, Borodin started his adulthood as a medical student—in his case, at the Saint Petersburg Academy of Medicine and Surgery in Russia. But unlike his French predecessor, Borodin carried that training on to a distinguished career as a professor and research chemist.

In Borodin’s case, music was always purely a side passion. In his non-working hours he played the cello in chamber ensembles, conducted various groups, and composed a small number of works. Nevertheless, he is now heralded as one of the towering figures of Russian classical music.

In 1869, Borodin began work on an opera, titled Prince Igor. Ambitious in scale and scope, the opera was built on the tale of a 12th century prince and his disastrous military campaigns against the Polovtsians, a Tatar tribe. After Borodin’s sudden death in 1887, the opera was completed by fellow composers Nicolai Rimsky Korsakov and Alexander Glazunov. It has since become a staple of the opera repertoire in Russia, though it is staged much less often in other parts of the world.

One part of the opera is widely known, however: the ballet scenes known as the Polovtsian Dances. These scenes come from a section of the opera in which the Polovtsians entertain Prince Igor with music and dance while he is held captive in the camp of Khan Kontchak, the Polovtsian leader. Exotic and sensual, the music vividly depicts the seductions of the Khan’s slave girls and the passionate patriotism of the heathen horde.

Johannes Brahms — Symphony No. 2 in D Major

It took Johannes Brahms two decades to write his First Symphony. Along the way, he sometimes expressed doubt that he would ever complete it. Despite (or perhaps because of) his reputation as the most important German composer of his time, Brahms worried that his symphony could never measure up to the standard of his nation’s greatest symphonist. “You have no idea how it feels for someone like me always to hear such a giant as Beethoven marching along behind me,” he complained.

So the composer was more than heartened by the enthusiastic reception when he finally premiered his First Symphony in 1876. “Even the layman will immediately recognize it as one of the most distinctive and magnificent works of the symphonic literature,” wrote the influential critic Eduard Hanslick. Perhaps even more poignantly for Brahms, the conductor Hans von Bülow proclaimed the new work “Beethoven’s Tenth.”

With the pressure off, Brahms went on a tear of large-scale compositions. His Second Symphony was finished less than a year after the premiere of his First; his Third and Fourth, as well as the Violin Concerto and several other major works, were completed within the next decade.

Brahms’ raised spirits are everywhere evident in the Second Symphony, composed during a summer holiday on Lake Wörth in southern Austria. Whereas the First Symphony was composed on an epic scale, the Second Symphony is lyrical and pastoral. Built in four movements, the work progresses through a classical structure, with a unique and pervading warmth. Like the First Symphony, the Second Symphony enjoyed immediate success, with critics comparing it favorably to the great works of Schubert and Haydn.

The first movement begins softly, with strings, horns and woodwinds passing a tune back and forth. The music winds its way to a climax, then quickly makes way for the introduction of the second theme — a lilting, tender tune reminiscent of the composer’s famous lullaby, “Good Evening Good Night.” The theme is first stated by the cellos, then repeated by the woodwinds; it will return several times, interspersed between sections that explore varying moods and textures. The melody that began the movement also returns in diverse guises — here tortured, there lilting. The interplay between these melodies forms the core of this sunny movement, which ends with pizzicato strings strumming softly against a final restatement of the introductory theme.

The second movement is markedly more solemn than the first, with passing moments of melancholic disquiet. Two stormy passages threaten the peace; but both fade and the movement ends tranquilly. The third movement moves into sunnier territory, with a marked thinning of Brahms’ characteristically dense orchestration. The music skips along at the breezy pace of a serenade, rising in energy in the central section but never shifting far from the cheerful mood.

Brahms’ playfulness is evident in the opening bars of the finale. Strings and woodwinds play a sing-songy passage at barely a whisper, resolving with a quiet cadence that seems to be headed nowhere fast. Instead, the orchestra bursts out with an exuberant theme. As this excitement fades, a new theme is introduced by the violins. It is repeated by the winds, leading to another exciting climax. This episodic, cascading structure continues for the rest of the movement, increasing in vigor and leading ultimately to a triumphant climax.