Few genres of the last 250 years have proved so crucial to the course of music history, or so vital to public musical experience, as the symphony. This Companion offers an accessible guide to the historical, analytical and interpretative issues surrounding this major genre of Western music, discussing an extensive variety of works from the eighteenth century to the present day. The book complements a detailed review of the symphony's history with focused analytical essays from leading scholars on the symphonic music of both mainstream composers, including Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven and lesser-known figures, including Carter, Berio and Maxwell Davies. With chapters on a comprehensive range of topics, from the symphony's origins to the politics of its reception in the twentieth century, this is an invaluable resource for anyone with an interest in the history, analysis and performance of the symphonic repertoire. "A thoroughly compelling volume." BBC Music Magazine "Including essays both general and tightly focused, this collection goes well beyond the traditional chronological study and overview of the symphony and offers numerous perspectives and scholarly insights … Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty and professionals." B. L. Eden, Choice A comprehensive guide to the historical, analytical and interpretative issues surrounding one of the major genres of Western music. Julian Horton is Associate Professor and Head of the School of Music at University College Dublin. His research focuses on nineteenth-century instrumental music, with special interests in the symphonies of Anton Bruckner and the analysis of sonata forms. His publications include Bruckner's Symphonies: Analysis, Reception and Cultural Politics (2004) and chapters and articles in The Cambridge Companion to Bruckner (2004), Music Analysis, Music and Letters and Musical Quarterly. From 2006 to 2011 he served as Critical-Forum Editor of Music Analysis. He is currently working on a study of Brahms' Piano Concerto No. 2, Op. 83.