This performance is part of Brahms Unbound, May 5 - June 5 at Walt Disney Concert Hall.

Please note: Peter Lieberson's Percussion Concerto, scheduled for its world premiere performances May 26, 28 & 29, will be replaced with Górecki's Symphony No. 3. Mr. Lieberson's poor health before his recent passing made it impossible for him to complete his work. We mourn the premature loss of a wonderful composer and friend.

Written six years after No. 2, Brahms Third Symphony is his shortest. It was also received more favorably than No. 2. A musical motto of three notes, F–A-flat–F (and variations of it), can be heard throughout the work. This was significant to Brahms because his friend Joseph Joachim had taken as his motto “Frei aber einsam” (Free, but lonely), but at the time of the Third Symphony, Brahms declared himself to be “Frei aber froh” (Free, but happy).