Enescu began writing the Third Symphony at Sinaia in May 1916, not long before Romania entered the First World War.

During the withdrawal of Romania to the province of Moldavia in face of the invading forces of the Central Powers, he finished the first movement in 1917 at Iași.

The second movement was completed at the height of the conflict, in January 1918, also at Iași, and the third was finished on 20 August of the same year at Dorohoi.

[3] According to others, however, the first performance did not take place until 25 May 1919 at the Athenaeum in Bucharest, with the Orchestra of the Ministry of Education and the Carmen Choral Society, conducted by the composer, prefaced by J. S. Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No.

The new version was premiered in Paris at the end of February 1921, conducted by Gabriel Pierné, but Enescu still was not satisfied and continued to revise the score for more than thirty years.