It was inspired by the death of his father,[1] taking its movement titles from sections of the Requiem Mass.
[2] He was awarded the 1944 Pulitzer Prize for Music, unanimously selected by the jury, for the piece.
Hanson regarded it as his finest work.
[3] It was premiered by the Boston Symphony Orchestra on December 3, 1943, conducted by the composer and the radio premiere was January 2, 1944 by the NBC Symphony Orchestra with Leopold Stokowski.
[4] One of his least heard symphonies, "this work represents American Romanticism at its best.