In a letter to the pianist and conductor Wilhelm Taubert, Schumann wondered if his Symphony No. 1 “could breathe a little of the longing for spring”. This desire possibly goes back to the composer’s long wait for marriage to Clara Schumann, the muse who inspires and encourages him to write symphonies. Clara was also a friend and confidant of Brahms, and the latter described his Symphony No. 2 as melancholy and sad. The second Brahms symphony is, however, inspired by a bucolic and luminous environment, reminiscent of Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony.