Symphony no. 2

Weill began his Second Symphony in Berlin in 1933 and finished it in exile in France, at Louveciennes, on a commission from Princesse Edmond de Polignac; the Nazi seizure of power had made his position in Germany untenable within weeks of his starting work. Bruno Walter conducted the first performance with the Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam on 11 October 1934 and took it to New York two months later. Publishers and promoters pressed descriptive titles on it — Symphonic Fantasy, Three Night Scenes — which Weill resisted; the music is in three movements and needs no programme.