The first movement of Symphony No. 2 - Aurora Nova opens with the strings in the dark key of Bb minor, soft, low and brooding, paving the way for the words “Omnia quieta perpetuae tenebrae” - (All is quiet, the darkness is everlasting), with a ‘Grave’ tempo in triple time. The main theme, descending in shape, crops up many times; firstly in strings, then voices, brass and woodwind and subsequently the four bar motive is used as a unifying force through the movement. 

The second movement with its ‘Largo espressivo’ tempo, duple metre, again in Bb minor, and opens with a solo violin over muted strings. The eight bar main theme has more of a rising shape and extended range, reaching up to the octave at its climactic point, to portray the words “Lumen e tenebris” (“Out of the darkness comes the light”).

The third movement is in the brighter key of Eb major with a ‘Con Brio’ tempo, as befits the optimistic and hopeful words “In terram perfundit lumen aeternam” (Everlasting light pours on the earth) again in duple metre, and the rising fourths which characterise the first subject are first heard in the brass before being passed to the woodwind.  The strings introduce the second subject in the relative minor, but the mood is optimistic and the melodies mostly rising. The symphony ends with a dramatic coda in the parallel minor, but with a Tierce de Picardie so that the triumphant major returns.