大象传媒

In 2020, 大象传媒 Radio 3 is bringing together musical greats, from the past and the present, in one extraordinary Proms season. Radio 3 is broadcasting the best of four decades of unmissable Proms concerts.

大象传媒 Proms: Brahms鈥檚 development in the time between composing his First and Second Symphonies was remarkable. Despite finishing it less than a year after the premiere of his First, the Second Symphony belongs to an entirely different world. It is an expansive, full-bodied work, infused with the idyllic surroundings of the Austrian spa town in which it was written.

In this concert from the 1994 Proms, Italian maestro Carlo Maria Giulini and the European Union Youth Orchestra pair the symphony with Brahms鈥檚 final effort in the medium: his thrilling Fourth. Written at the height of his musical powers (again, within a year of its predecessor), it is the first symphony by any composer to incorporate a strict set of variations into one of its movements: the finale is based on a repeating bass melody from Bach鈥檚 Cantata 150, Nach dir, Herr, verlanget mich鈥�.

Presented by Ian Skelly

Brahms: Symphony No. 2 in D major
Brahms: Symphony No. 4 in E minor

European Union Youth Orchestra
Carlo Maria Giulini (conductor)

(From the 大象传媒 Proms 1994, 20 August)