A Sneaker In The Mist

Nearly 50 years before Brahms began to compose symphonies,symphonies in the German region showed signs of diminishing.From today’s perspective,the most important and influential symphonic composers were mainly Mendelssohn and Schumann.In the 20 years after them,there has been a trough period,during which although there were other symphonies,but from a historical perspective,they were like smoke and clouds,without far-reaching impact.Brahms did not begin to compose his Symphony No.1 until 1876,but it received mixed reviews after its debut,with negative critics calling it a mere pastiche of Beethoven’s symphonies.Obviously,the negative impact of this criticism on Brahms was also considerable.Symphony No.2,written the following year,was a sign that the composer was trying to get out of the great gravity of Beethoven’s symphonies.What he can do is only a kind of differentiation with little space,not transcendence.Nevertheless,based on the environment of the times,personal circumstances,personal endowments and aesthetic ideals,Symphony No.2 has shown its own personality after all.Therefore,this work can be regarded as its first turning point in his symphonic composition.This paper begins with a review of the symphonies by the two most important composers in German symphonic composition since the 1930 s,as well as the compositional process of Brahms’ Symphony No.1,then the focus turns to the mastery of the musical form and creative personality of Symphony No.2.Its aesthetic ideal,compositional orientation and inherent characteristics are discussed under the artistic ecological environment of Germany at that time.This paper concludes that Symphony No.2 does not intend to express certain personal feelings by means of music.If people can still get some emotional content from the sound dynamics of the works,it is only an inadvertent expression,not a deliberate expression.On the one hand,Brahms’ composition reveals his efforts to escape the influence of Beethoven’s symphonies;on the other hand,it shows that his composition is entirely out of a kind of inner comfort,which makes his symphonies different from Mendelssohn and Schumann before,and more contrary to the popular "New German School" at that time,yet closer to the Classical music ideal.