The work was commissioned by the National Symphony Orchestra to commemorate the United States Bicentennial.
Schuman dedicated the symphony "to the country's creative artists, past, present and future.
In the score program note, Schuman wrote, "My wife's instinct proved fortuitous, for recalling Pioneers and experiencing again its optimism was precisely what I needed to get me started on the Symphony.
7, Alan G. Artner of the Chicago Tribune wrote, "Each presents long stretches of meditative music as well as Schuman's characteristically knotty struggle before blasts of positive energy bring them to conclusion.
Everything seemed busy and overstated, as if a writer, asked to make a paragraph stronger, were to add an exclamation point to the end of each sentence.Despite this criticism, Page added, "The second movement, however, is masterly; a long, haunted nocturnal procession, superbly orchestrated and deeply compelling.