Curse of the ninth "serious" music criticism. Though composers can indeed be found who died after achieving nine symphonies (the most famous example perhaps being Ludwig van Beethoven), nine is not a statistically predominant total in the history of the symphony. In addition, while some very prominent composers (e.g. Schubert, Dvořák, Spohr, Bruckner, Mahler, and Vaughan Williams) are regularly adduced as examples, several of them are only credited with having "composed nine symphonies" as a result of error or oversimplification (see below). According to Arnold Schoenberg, this superstition began with Gustav Mahler, who, after writing his Eighth Symphony, wrote "Das Lied von der Erde",
Symphony No. 2 (Schubert) Symphony No. 2 (Schubert) The Symphony No. 2 in B major, D 125, is a symphony by Franz Schubert composed between 1814 and 1815. It is scored for 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 horns, 2 trumpets, timpani and strings. There are four movements: The work runs about 31 minutes. \relative c' { </score> In the opening movement, the initial theme of the "Allegro vivace" is based on the corresponding first theme of Ludwig van Beethoven's overture to "The Creatures of Prometheus". The second movement is a theme with five variations in E major, Schubert's only set