Cocktail Party Fact: This is the one major work of Dvorak that clearly owes a debt to Brahms–in this case his Second Symphony, with which it shares both key (D major), and mood (check out the finales of both).

Commitment Factor: About 40 - 45 minutes

Vital Statistics: Romantic Period (1880). A standard, four-movement symphony with a brilliant Czech dance for the third movement Scherzo (joke).

What to Listen For: Although the outer movements recall Brahms, the pastoral slow movement, and fiery Scherzo are pure Dvorak (Brahms tended to write Scherzos that are slowish, lyrical interludes, with few dance impulses). The middle section of the Scherzo, called a “trio,” features an unusual solo for piccolo. In fact, each symphony of Dvorak has one or two extra instruments or special colors (in the Fifth, for example, it is the triangle in the Scherzo, and the bass clarinet solo in the finale). He uses these effects sparingly, and they are all the more effective for his restraint. Of the late Dvorak symphonies, this is the least well known. But it may also be the most purely beautiful of them all, as fans of the composer well know.