Its premiere was given on 19 January 1991 in New York by Ensemble Continuum directed by Joel Sachs.
The symphony is scored for: oboe, trumpet, tuba, wooden cube, violin and reciter.
The composer stressed that the reciter should pronounce it praying to God.
Ustvolskaya gave specific instructions in the score that the reciter, a man, should be dressed in black and not wearing jewelry.
Megadisc Classics - Oleg Malov (reciter), The Saint Petersburg Soloists, Dmitry Liss (conductor) RCA - Sergei Leiferkus (reciter), London Musici, Mark Stephenson (conductor)