Symphony No. 3 in F major, Op. 90

Premiered on 2 December 1883 under Hans Richter in Vienna, Brahms's Third Symphony was hailed immediately as a masterpiece — Hanslick called it the most perfect of the four — and it consolidates the composer's mature orchestral style with unrivalled concision. The opening Allegro con brio is dominated by the three-note motto F–A♭–F (embodying Brahms's personal motto Frei aber froh, Free but happy), which generates a web of motivic cross-reference throughout the entire symphony. The slow movement's calm nobility, the Third's folk-tinged Poco Allegretto — later made famous as the theme of the film Aimez-vous Brahms? — and the turbulent finale's remarkable resolution into quiet F major make the Third uniquely autumnal and self-contained among the symphonies. It is regarded as the most introspective and harmonically complex of the four and demands extraordinary interpretive subtlety from conductor and orchestra alike.