Bruckner composed his Second Symphony during the years 1871- 1872. It is set in the traditional four movements, and is no more gargantuan than Schubert's "Great" C major Symphony. However, this work is genuinely predictive of Bruckner's later style, both in its balanced synthesis of classical elements and in the Wagnerian chromaticism of its musical ethos. The second exists in no fewer than five different versions! In hindsight, it's easy to see why Bruckner's contemporaries advised him to overhaul the score, for during the autumn of 1872, the members of the Vienna Philharmonic dismissed it as unplayable, though it had already won the admiration of Franz Liszt. The symphony was introduced to Vienna audiences on October 26, 1873, after a wealthy patron, Johann Merbeck, had volunteered to underwrite costs. Now, the new symphony received enthusiastic approval from critics and public alike; Bruckner received an ovation, and even the feared critic Hanslick temporarily stayed his barbed pen, finding positive things to say about the piece. In 1877, aged 53, Bruckner produced a subsequent revision, but as Hans Christian Schmidt-Banse observes, "this music continues, even today, to disturb and puzzle its listeners and refuses to provide a quick fix...."

The opening movement (moderato) adopts conventional sonata form, although Bruckner takes a strangely fragmented approach in the management of his thematic material. The peremptory conclusion of the movement—a coda of just 17 bars—was more suggestive of a composer laboring against self-doubt than any lack of technical skill. That quality is much in evidence in the slow movement (Andante) which now follows: like many of Bruckner's slow movements, this one has a hymn-like, devotional character, although again the fragmentary nature of the musical language, and its hesitant quality, suggest a certain lack of confidence. The Scherzo is more forthright and declamatory. While only passing allusions to the original dance forms remains, the thundering rhythmic gestures are not effectively countered by more relaxed material: only the trio section affords any sense of calm. Very soon, the music returns to the rustic, rough-hewn abrasiveness of the surrounding scherzo material. That same rambling, discursive quality which prompted calls for Bruckner to revise the work is even more palpable in the Finale (moderato). The first real theme does not arrive for a considerable time, though when it does, its thematic associations with the pounding themes of the Scherzo do not pass unnoticed. The second subject group, too, begins after a series of fits and starts, and its pastoral nature is soon swamped by a church chorale. One interesting feature, however, is the series of fleeting cyclic reminiscences of the first movement. But almost all commentators have found this symphony unconvincing in its attempts to unify musical opposites: as Schmidt-Banse concludes "however much he struggles to reconcile them, Bruckner's antitheses always seem to resist all attempts at reconciliation."

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