Enescu began writing his Second Symphony late in 1912, and the manuscript score specifies the date of completion on 18 November 1914.

Enescu was not satisfied with the result, and set aside the manuscript, which was not performed again until Iosif Conta [ro; ja; ru] revived the symphony in 1961, six years after the composer's death.

[2][3] At the height of the First World War, in the summer of 1917, the Romanian government sent their gold reserves by train to Moscow, along with a large collection of Enescu's manuscripts, including the only copy of the Second Symphony and all of the sketches for the opera Œdipe.

It is followed by a bridge passage which, in addition to manipulating four motives from the main themes, introduces a new one, which will become important throughout the rest of the symphony.

[12] Intensely concerned with timbre, the finale weaves together constantly shifting, overlapping, and dissolving shades and gradations of instrumental colour.