Celebrating the 100th anniversary of the U.S. premiere of Mahler's Seventh Symphony

One hundred years ago, second music director Frederick Stock led the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in the U.S. premiere of Mahler’s Seventh Symphony on April 15, 1921, in Orchestra Hall. 

The Chicago Evening Post reported that “the orchestra played with astonishing virtuosity. There was nothing Mahler could write which they could not play, as they demonstrated to full satisfaction. At the close of the symphony there was a great demonstration for Mr. Stock, in which he had all the players rise and join.”

Read more: Mahler's Seventh Symphony

The Chicago Symphony Orchestra has recorded Mahler’s Seventh Symphony on three occasions, the first in May 1971 under new music director Georg Solti, who led recording sessions for London at the Krannert Center at the University of Illinois. The release won the 1972 Grammy Award for Best Classical Performance–Orchestra from the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.