Brahms imagined hearing “the footsteps of a giant” behind him – that giant being Beethoven – making him question his readiness and ability. His own harshest critic (he burned many more manuscripts than he published), Brahms did not feel ready to compose in the symphonic form until he was in his 40s. Just four months after his First Symphony’s hugely successful premiere in 1877, he would deliver his Second, a work displaying the composer’s hopeful, glorious and peaceful best. PROGRAM BRAHMS Symphony No.2 Jaime Martín, conductor