Symphony No. 3 in F, Op. 90 [Alf:36-A134001]

Six years after the completion of his second symphony, Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) crafted his SYMPHONY NO. 3 IN F MAJOR, Op. 90 while residing at Wiesbaden, a town nestled on the banks of the Rhine. The work opens with a three-chord motif which his biographer Max Kalbeck interpreted to represent the composer’s musical motto frei aber froh (free but happy). Allusions to water are woven into the first movement; a near-quotation of the Siren’s Chorus from Wagner’s TANNHAUSER and a paraphrase of a song by Liszt about the famous Lorelei rock which overlooks the Rhine. The Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra gave the first performance on December 2, 1883 under the baton of Hans Richter. Instrumentation: 2.2.2.2+CBsn: 4.2.3.0: Timp: Str (9.8.7.6.5 in set).