Symphony No. 3 in F major, Op. 90

The symphony opens with a bold three-note motto in the winds and brass, F, A-flat, F, that Brahms will thread through the whole work, before the strings launch into a surging, wide-striding main theme.

I. Allegro con brio: The opening motto returns again and again, sometimes triumphant, sometimes shadowed, as the movement swings between a heroic first theme and a gentler, songlike second idea. It closes with the motto stated calmly, as if settling a question rather than shouting an answer.

II. Andante: A plain, hymn-like melody opens in the clarinets and bassoons, warm and unhurried. The mood stays mostly gentle throughout, with a few darker turns, and the movement fades out rather than building to a climax.

III. Poco allegretto: This is the movement most listeners remember, a wistful, swaying melody introduced by the cellos that has the lilt of a slow waltz. It returns near the end played by a solo horn, one of the symphony's most quoted moments.

IV. Allegro: The finale begins in hushed, almost ominous tones before breaking into stormy, driving music. Themes from earlier movements resurface, and after a full-throttle climax, the symphony winds down, and the opening motto returns one last time, closing the work quietly rather than with a big final chord.

Brahms wrote his Third Symphony in the summer of 1883 in Wiesbaden, at age fifty, having already established himself as a major symphonic composer with his first two symphonies. It was premiered in Vienna in December 1883 by the Vienna Philharmonic under Hans Richter, and was warmly received, though some listeners found its ending unusually understated for a symphony. Conductor Hans Richter reportedly nicknamed it Brahms's "Eroica," linking it to Beethoven's heroic Third Symphony, though the two works differ greatly in mood and shape. It is the shortest of Brahms's four symphonies and the only one to end all four movements quietly. It quickly entered the standard orchestral repertoire and remains one of the most frequently performed Brahms symphonies today.