3 in F major, Im Walde (In the Forest), was composed by Joachim Raff in Wiesbaden in 1869 and was premiered in 1870 in Weimar.
Along with his Fifth Symphony, it was one of his most successful and frequently performed works during his lifetime and it earned him a reputation as a symphonist.
The symphony is scored for piccolo, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets in B-flat, 2 bassoons, 4 horns in F, 2 trumpets in F, 3 trombones, timpani, triangle and strings.
The symphony is structured in three parts and four movements: The symphony was enthusiastically received by the audience at that time, spread quickly to England and America and was one of the most played orchestral pieces in the world at the end of the 19th century, which it probably owed to its dramatic musical pictorialism.
At the premiere on Easter Sunday, April 17, 1870, in Weimar, a "whirlwind of enthusiasm went through the concert hall" and Raff was "celebrated with frenetic cheers" by the audience.