Brahms Symphony No 3 in F major, Op 90, Andante C major, Video

Instrumentation
The symphony is scored for two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, contrabassoon, four horns, two trumpets, three trombones, timpani, and s
Form
The symphony is in four movements, marked as follows:

Allegro con brio (F major), in sonata form.
Andante (C major), in ternary (A B A') form.
Poco allegretto (C minor), in ternary (A B A') form.
Allegro (F minor, ending in F major), in a modified sonata form.
History
Hans Richter, who conducted the premier of the symphony, proclaimed it to be Brahms' Eroica. The symphony was well received, more so than his Second Symphony. Although Richard Wagner had died earlier that year, the public feud between Brahms and Wagner had not yet subsided. Fanatical members of the Wagner cult tried to interfere with the symphony's premiere, and the conflict between the two factions nearly brought about a duel.[1]

After each performance, Brahms polished his score further, until it was published in May 1884. His friend and influential music critic Eduard Hanslick said, "Many music lovers will prefer the titanic force of the First Symphony; others, the untroubled charm of the Second, but the Third strikes me as being artistically the most nearly perfect."[1]

Musical elements
A musical motto consisting of three notes, FA-flatF, was significant to Brahms. In 1853 his friend Joseph Joachim had taken as his motto "Free, but lonely", in German, Frei aber einsam, and from the notes represented by the first letters of these words, FAE, the two musicians had jointly fabricated a Violin Sonata. At the time of the Third Symphony, Brahms is a fifty-year-old bachelor who declares himself to be Frei aber froh, "Free but Happy". His FAF motto, and some altered variations of it, can be heard throughout the symphony.[1]

At the beginning of the symphony the motto is the melody of the first three measures, and it is the bass line underlying the main theme in the next three. The motto persists, either boldy or disguised, as the melody or accompaniment throughout the movement. The third movement takes the place of the conventional, fast-paced scherzo. The finale is a lyrical, passionate movement, rich in melody that is intensely exploited, altered, and developed. The movement ends with reference to the motto heard in the first movement, then fades away to a quiet ending.