The manuscripts of Martinů’s Symphonies are not especially revealing documents. They are very neat and correct, with relatively few alterations and amendments. The large cut in the Third Symphony and the two pages of emendations to the Fourth are the exception rather than the rule. Fortunately, the Czech Museum of Music in Prague possesses Martinů’s sketch of the Second Symphony under the catalogue entry Tr B 315. It is a fascinating document which reveals that for the most part Martinů had already determined the shape of his themes and the form of each movement, occasionally reading like a reduction of the finished article. Nonetheless, there are some moments of indecision, some second thoughts, which throw some light on his compositional procedures and the slightly different path the work might have taken. It is written on 24-stave manuscript paper and contains six leaves, each of four sides. Each side measures 34 by 27 centimetres, and most of the sides are numbered. The first leaf, containing pages 1–4, is missing. The contents of the remaining six are:

The two unnumbered pages between pages 21 and 22 are upside down with relation to the rest of the sketch. They have been entirely crossed out in pencil, but nonetheless contain important information. They do not form part of the continuous sketch: instead, Martinů uses them to try out various themes, sometimes making several attempts before finding their definitive forms. The first of these pages (which I shall call 21a) has ideas for the first two movements, whilst the second (21b) contains information about the third.

The sketch has some features that occasionally make for difficult reading. Martinů writes his flats almost like elongated commas. They can sometimes be as large as the notes themselves, and may easily be confused with rests. He employs a varying number of staves per system, from one up to seven. The depth of a system is sometimes made clear with extended barlines but elsewhere can be judged only after cross-reference with the published score.