Antonín Dvorák's Symphony No. 2 in B flat major, Op. 4 is a work that a young, still-developing composer like Dvorák was when he wrote it in 1865 might well be justly proud, but to which a wiser and more mature musician might take exception. That Dvorák himself went through both of those phases with this symphony is clear from the evidence at hand: he was so caught up in his enthusiasm for the work that he threw the Symphony No. 1 in C minor out altogether (he believed it lost for the rest of his life), but when a performance of the Symphony No. 2 was planned for 1888 Dvorák made quick to perform radical revisionary surgery on the early work. The work remains for posterity an entertaining document of a young composer's stunning potential; from time to time it is enjoyable and enlightening to pull it from the shelves and visit the famous symphonist when he was still a young man trying to escape a life working in a butcher-shop.

The Symphony No. 2 in B flat is a long work in the usual four movements. Because Dvorák himself made cuts and changes to it there is really no definitive version, and so without a critical score one cannot be sure whether one is listening to Dvorák 1865 or Dvorák 1887 - 88 (but Dvorák 1865 is certainly substantially more long-winded than his 23-years-older counterpart!). The principal tune of the Allegro con moto first movement, which is prefaced by a mighty introduction at the same tempo, has an admirable suppleness to it.

Again and again in Dvorák's early compositions we can remark how much better suited the young artist was for composing slow movements than he was for composing substantial opening and closing movements, and so it is in this symphony—the Poco adagio in G minor is thoroughly enjoyable if perhaps a bit rough about the seams. Likewise, the unpretentious Scherzo (Allegro con brio), though it is overgrown, makes for easy listening.

The finale is, however, another matter altogether. The alla breve rhythmic "punch" helps to drive things along, but there is a shortage of usable material, and one can be forgiven if, even after Dvorák's sizeable cuts, one welcomes the final triumphant bars with open arms.

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