Symphony No. 2

Fascinated with the translating of human emotions into music, while also recalling rustic images seen long before at a country inn, Nielsen’s Second Symphony evokes those “four temperaments”—choleric, phlegmatic, melancholic, and sanguine—from antiquity in an integrated structure. Premiered in Copenhagen on December 1, 1902, the symphony gradually became one of Nielsen’s most performed works during his lifetime. The opening “Allegro collerico” contrasts impetuous and ardent themes in purposeful development before a heightened reprise and dramatic coda. Next comes “Allegro commodo e flemmatico,” conjuring up a carefree youth whose reverie is momentarily disturbed by a barrel rolling off the quayside. The “Andante malincolico” centers on an eloquent theme, twice building to passionate climaxes separated by a pastoral interlude of winsome charm. Finally, the “Allegro sanguineo” imagines someone whose thoughtless disposition is stopped short in a moment of reckoning before going on their way with renewed confidence.