The second movement used some previously abandoned musical material written in 1854, the year of Schumann's mental collapse and attempted suicide, and of Brahms's move to Düsseldorf to assist Clara Schumann and her young children.
O segundo movemento empregaba algo de material musical abandonado que escribira en 1854, o ano do colapso mental e intento de suicidio de Schumann, e o traslado de Brahms a Düsseldorf para axudar a Clara Schumann e os seus fillos pequenos.