1. Introduction: understanding the symphony Julian Horton; Part I. Historical Overview of the Genre: 2. The Viennese symphony 1750 to 1827 John Irving; 3. Other classical repertories Mary Sue Morrow; 4. The symphony after Beethoven after Dahlhaus David Brodbeck; 5. The symphony since Mahler: national and international trends David Fanning; Part II. Studies in Symphonic Analysis: 6. Six great early symphonists Michael Spitzer; 7. Harmonies and effects: Haydn and Mozart in parallel Simon P. Keefe; 8. Beethoven: structural principles and narrative strategies Mark Anson-Cartwright; 9. Cyclical thematic processes in the nineteenth-century symphony Julian Horton; 10. Tonal strategies in the nineteenth-century symphony Julian Horton; 11. 'Two-dimensional' symphonic forms: Schoenberg's Chamber Symphony, before, and after Steven Vande Moortele; 12. Symphony/antiphony: formal strategies in the twentieth-century symphony Daniel M. Grimley; Part III. Performance, Reception and Genre: 13. The symphony and the classical orchestra Richard Will; 14. Beethoven's shadow: the nineteenth century Mark Evan Bonds; 15. The symphony as programme music John Williamson; 16. 'Symphonies of the free spirit': the Austro-German symphony in early Soviet Russia Pauline Fairclough; 17. The symphony in Britain: guardianship and renewal Alain Frogley; 18. The symphony, the modern orchestra and the performing canon Alan Street.