Selected Commissions & Premieres

Since its founding in 1842, the Orchestra has championed the new music of its time, giving the first performances of many important works such as Dvorák's Symphony No. 9, From the New World; Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 3; Gershwin's Concerto in F; and Copland's Connotations, in addition to the U.S. premieres of works such as Beethoven's Symphonies Nos. 2, 3, 7, 8, and 9, and Brahms's Symphony No. 4.

This pioneering tradition has continued to the present day, with works of major contemporary composers regularly scheduled each season. John Adams's On the Transmigration of Souls, written in memory of September 11, 2001, and commissioned by the New York Philharmonic with Lincoln Center's Great Performers, received the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for Music; a CD of the work, performed in concert by the Orchestra in 2002, was released on Nonesuch in August 2004, and garnered three Grammy awards.

Beethoven Score

Beethoven: Symphony No. 7

U.S. Premiere
Nov. 18, 1843
Conductor: U.C. Hill

Beethoven Score

Beethoven: Symphony No. 9, Choral

U.S. Premiere
May 20, 1846
Conductor: George Loder

Berlioz Portrait

Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique

U.S. Premiere
Jan. 27, 1866
Conductor: Carl Bergmann

Die Walkure Score Cover

Wagner: Act I from Die Walküre

U.S. Premiere
Nov. 4, 1876
Conductor: L. Damrosch

Brahms Portrait

Brahms: Symphony No. 4

U.S. Premiere
Dec. 10, 1886
Conductor: Walter Damrosch

Maud Powell

Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto in D

U.S. Premiere
Jan. 19, 1889
Conductor: Walter Damrosch
Soloist: Maud Powell

Richard Strauss Portrait

R. Strauss: Death and Transfiguration

U.S. Premiere
Jan. 9, 1892
Conductor: Anton Seidl

Dvorak Violin Part

Dvorák: Symphony No. 9, From the New World

World Premiere
Dec. 16, 1893
Conductor: Anton Seidl

Mahler Conducting

Mahler: Symphony No. 2, Resurrection

U.S. Premiere
Dec. 8, 1908
Conductor: Gustav Mahler

Rachmaninoff

Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 3

World Premiere
Nov. 28, 1909
Conductor: Walter Damrosch
Soloist: Sergei Rachmaninoff

Gershwin at the Piano

Gershwin: Piano Concerto in F

World Premiere
Dec. 3, 1925
Conductor: Walter Damrosch
Soloist: George Gershwin

Stravinsky Conducting

Stravinsky: Symphony in Three Movements

World Premiere
Jan. 24, 1946
Conductor: Igor Stravinsky

Copland and Bernstein

Copland: Connotations

World Premiere (NYP Commission)
Sep. 23, 1962
Conductor: Leonard Bernstein

Luciano Berio

Berio: Sinfonia

World Premiere (NYP Commission)
Oct. 10, 1968
Conductor: Luciano Berio

Olivier Messiaen

Messiaen: Éclairs sur l'Au-Delà

World Premiere (NYP Commission)
Nov. 5, 1992
Conductor: Zubin Mehta

Tan Dun with Christopher Lamb

Tan Dun: Water Percussion Concerto

World Premiere (NYP Commission)
Jun. 3, 1999
Conductor: Kurt Masur
Soloist: Christopher Lamb

Kaija Saariaho

Saariaho: Oltra Mar

World Premiere (NYP Commission)
Nov. 11, 1999
Conductor: Kurt Masur
Westminster Symphonic Choir

John Adams at the World Premiere

Adams: On Transmigration of Souls

World Premiere
Sep. 19, 2002
Conductor: Lorin Maazel

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