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Author: Fiona Richards

A timeline of symphonies from 1900-1945

Updated Thursday, 17th November 2011

A timeline of the major symphonic works produced in the first half of the 20th Century

This page was published over 11 years ago. Please be aware that due to the passage of time, the information provided on this page may be out of date or otherwise inaccurate, and any views or opinions expressed may no longer be relevant. Some technical elements such as audio-visual and interactive media may no longer work. For more detail, see how we deal with older content.

For a discussion of the symphony between 1900-45, see Musical landscapes: The symphony after 1900. You can also explore the connections between some of the 20th century's most important composers.

 Date  Composer  Symphony
 1901-02  Sibelius  Symphony no. 2
 1901-02  Nielsen  Symphony no. 2 'The Four Temperaments
 1901-02  Mahler  Symphony no. 5
 1903-05  Debussy  La Mer 'Symphonic Sketches'
 1903-09  Vaughan Williams  A Sea Symphony
 1904  Strauss  Sinfonia Domestica
 1906  Schoenberg  Chamber Symphony no. 1
 1906  Mahler  Symphony no. 8
 1907-08  Elgar  Symphony no. 1
 1908-11  Ives  Symphony no. 3 'The Camp Meeting'
 1912-13  Vaughan Williams  A London Symphony
 1914-16  Nielsen  Symphony no. 4 'The Inextinguishable'
 1914-16  Szymanowski  Symphony no. 3 'The song of the night'
 1915  Strauss  Alpine Symphony
 1915  Sibelius  Symphony no. 5
 1915-28  Ives  Universe Symphony (unfinished)
 1916-17  Prokofiev  Symphony no. 1 'Classical'
 1917-19  Ives  A Symphony: New England Holidays
 1921  Vaughan Williams  Pastoral Symphony
 1922  Milhaud  Symphonie de chambre no. 5
 1923  Honegger  Mouvement symphonique no. 1 'Pacific 231'
 1924  Sibelius  Symphony no. 7
 1926  Janácek  Sinfonietta
 1927  Shostakovich  Symphony no. 2 'To October'
 1929  Bax  Symphony no. 3
 1930  Stravinsky  Symphony of Psalms
 1933-34  Britten  Simple Symphony
 1934  Hindemith  Mathis der Maler
 1934-37  Moeran  Symphony in G minor
 1939-40  Casella  Symphony no. 3
 1940  Britten  Sinfonia da Requiem
 1941  Shostakovich  Symphony no. 7 'Leningrad'
 1942-45  Stravinsky  Symphony in Three Movements
 1944-46  Copland  Symphony no. 2
 1945  Benjamin  Symphony
 1945  Klami  Symphony no. 2
 1945  Shostakovich  Symphony no. 9
 1945-46  Honegger  Symphony no. 3 'Liturgique'
 

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