Symphony No. 2 in E minor was written by Wilhelm Furtwängler between 1945 and 1946. After quitting his conducting posts in Germany and Austria in protest of Nazi cultural policy, Furtwängler moved to Switzerland, where he wrote this symphony. It is in four movements:
The outer movements are in sonata form. The third movement, although not specifically referred to as such by Furtwängler, is a scherzo with trio. Unlike Bruckner, Furtwängler makes smooth transitions into and out of the trio.
Like Furtwängler's other symphonic works, the Symphony No. 2 is very rarely performed. Roughly 80 minutes in length, the work is heavily indebted to the late-Romantic style of composers like Anton Bruckner and Richard Wagner. As one commentator has observed, most of Furtwängler's works "are of Brucknerian length but, devoid of Brucknerian genius, few have the material to sustain such proportions."[1] However, the symphony also has its strong partisans: Eugen Jochum has recorded this work with Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra in 1954, there is another recording made by Daniel Barenboim and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra,[2] and Arthur Honegger wrote of this work, "The man who can write a score as rich as [this] is not to be argued about. He is of the race of great musicians."[3]
Furtwängler himself recorded his Symphony No. 2 in a studio with the Berlin Philharmonic in 1952,[4] and again with the Vienna Philharmonic, live, in 1953. The live recording was released on the Orfeo label. A final and considerably reworked interpretation by Furtwangler exists with the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra from March, 1954.