Adagio un poco mosso, B major, 4/4time

Ternary form. The main section (A) is imbued with an all-encompassing magnanimity and a reverent sound. It begins with muted strings (the strings are played with mutes throughout this second movement), and at measure 9, as the volume increases, wind instruments join. The piano makes its first appearance in the middle section (B), starting from measure 16, presenting a smooth and beautiful descending melodic figure.

In the recapitulation (from measure 45), the strings switch to pizzicato, and the piano takes the lead, driving the music forward. Then comes a highly striking passage—the transition to the 3rd movement. At measure 79, the bassoon sustains the tonic note H (B natural) with profound significance, and at measure 80, the horn takes over on B-flat, a semitone lower. Enticed into E-flat major by this B-flat, the piano then plays the theme of the 3rd movement in a dreamlike and fantastical manner.