The work received its premiere in the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam on 14 July 1949 as part of the Holland Festival Britten composed Spring Symphony on a commission by the Koussevitzky Music Foundation.

In the composer's own words, the work represents "the progress of Winter to Spring and the reawakening of the earth and life which that means".

At the premiere, the soloists were soprano Jo Vincent, contralto Kathleen Ferrier, and tenor Peter Pears,[5] with Eduard van Beinum conducting the Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam, the Netherlands Radio Choir, and the Boys' Chorus of St. Willibrord's Church, Utrecht.

The Finale, "London, to thee I do present", comes to a climax when the entire chorus joins in a wordless, full-throated waltz representing the May revellers fortified by wine and ale (borne out by some rather unexpected modulations).

The climax of the movement is the moment when the children's voices, accompanied by unison French horns, re-enter the scene and sing the 13th century round "Sumer is icumen in".