Robert Schumann once said that “when a German speaks of symphonies, he is speaking of Beethoven”. With his nine symphonies, Beethoven set a standard against which all subsequent composers measured themselves. Yet Beethoven initially oriented himself on the great masters Haydn and Mozart.

Thus his Second Symphony in D major op. 36 of 1800–02 stands between the tradition of these masters and his own later innovations. For study purposes, G. Henle here presents the Second Symphony in a small fo...