you keep second guessing yourself. It’s Brahms, 100% for sure. But wait I don’t listen to much Brahms and it’s so familiar. Is it Mahler? No, it’s Brahms. But wait… that was just a hair Beethoven? But no it overall doesn’t sound like Beethoven, a bit too modern. Mahler??? No, Brahms¹

In retrospect, bouncing back and forth between Beethoven and Mahler as the other two candidates should have told me for sure I was listening to Brahms. Hindsight, etc.

1. Brahms Symphony 2 on KING FM, a radio station I highly recommend. you can stream from them free online (but if you really like them, consider pitching some money their way?) ↩︎