The symphony is scored for a chamber orchestra of a flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, two horns, trombone, bells, and strings (violins, violas, cellos, and double basses).
The symphony has many influences including Civil War songs, dances, and general European classical music.
Ives was sentimentally nostalgic, glancing back as a modern composer at a nineteenth-century childhood of hymns, bells, and children's games throughout the three movements.
[3] There was no further interest in the symphony until Lou Harrison, a great fan of Ives' music, finally conducted it in New York on 5 April 1946.
Bernard Herrmann, another composer who became a friend of Ives, conducted a CBS broadcast performance of the symphony soon after.