Many writers describe Tippett's Symphony No. 2 as a watershed work in the composer's career. With this piece, Tippett initiated a significant change in style, setting aside diatonic-harmony polytonality derived from closely related harmonies. Also, movements and sections become more compact, although the formal characteristics of his pieces are still based on Classical-era models.

Tippett was inspired to begin the Second Symphony while listening to a recording of a concerto by Vivaldi. "I was specially moved in that situation by some pounding Vivaldi C major bass arpeggios," the composer has related. This suggested to Tippett the four heavy C naturals that open and close the symphony. The piece follows the Beethovenian four-movement model with a sonata-form first movement, a lyrical slow movement, a lively scherzo and a triumphant finale. Stravinsky's Symphony in C (1939 - 1940) also seems to be a model, with its contrasting violent and lyric elements and the inclusion of a piano.

At the premiere of Tippett's Symphony No. 2, in London's Royal Festival Hall in February 1958, the performance broke down after the first few pages. The conductor, Adrian Boult, took the blame, but the real problem was that the concertmaster, Paul Beard, had changed all of Tippett's violin bowings, making the part seem rhythmically incomprehensible.

With a relentless opening, the first movement's aggressive mood is established at the outset. The polytonal characteristics that Tippett first employed in his Second Symphony are a salient feature of the movement. The first thematic/key area is a confluence of three chords—C, G and D major—that together constitute the "tonality" of the section. For the secondary theme, a similar arrangement occurs around A flat. The sonata-form proportions are clearly defined in this rhythmically charged movement that closes with pounding timpani notes.

Sonata-form exigencies are absent from the second movement, which is songlike in format. Transformations of thematic material are achieved through both changes in timbre and melodic manipulation. Tunes move from the bright piano and harp to a combination of celesta and flute, then celesta and muted trumpet. The main themes are introduced by a solo trumpet and divided cellos. When these return, they sound a step higher, the trumpet theme in the trombone and the cello passage in the violins.

Additive-rhythm processes are at work in the Scherzo, in which the long main theme falls into a pattern of 3+3+2 beats and is the basis for a complex canon distributed among several instruments. The secondary theme is in two, brief parts, which, because of their motivic nature, are suited to additive processes. Interplay between long and short notes creates unsettling rhythms that drive the movement. Called "a kind of mirror form scherzo" by the composer, the movement is partially palindromic, its midpoint being the dynamic peak at its center. The harp and piano duet appears at the end as if to quell the vitality.

The finale, a passacaglia, returns to the pulsing C naturals of the first movement. Here, too, A flat provides the contrasting harmonic area, as harp, piano, and woodwinds provide bright orchestral color.

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