The uplifting tone of the symphony is thus remarkable considering Schumann's health problems during the time of its composition—the work can be seen as a Beethovenian triumph over fate/pessimism, as Beethoven himself described in the Heiligenstadt Testament.

He began to compose away from the piano,[2] as he noted in his writing: Not until the year 1845, when I began to conceive and work out everything in my head, did an entirely different manner of composition begin to developThe strategic shift above can be ascribed to his intensive study of counterpoint in the same year with his wife, Clara Schumann.

The symphony is written in the traditional four-movement form, and as often in the nineteenth century the Scherzo precedes the Adagio.

It is scored for an orchestra consisting of two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets (in B♭), two bassoons, two French horns (in C), two trumpets (in C), three trombones (alto, tenor, and bass), timpani, and strings.

The work ultimately came to be admired in the nineteenth century for its "perceived metaphysical content",[4] but the symphony's popularity waned in the twentieth, owing to its unusual structure.