Unusually long for a symphony of its time, a typical performance of The Great lasts around one hour when all repeats indicated in the score are taken.

By the spring or summer of 1826, it was completely scored and in October, Schubert, who was unable to pay for a performance, sent it to the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde with a dedication.

In response, they gave him a small payment, arranged for the copying of the orchestral parts, and at some point in the latter half of 1827, gave the work an unofficial perfunctory run-through (the exact date and the conductor are unknown) – though it was set aside as too long and difficult for the amateur orchestra of the conservatory.

[7] A recent hypothesis suggests that the symphony may have received its first performance on 12 March 1829 in a Concert Spirituel at the Landständischer Saal of the Palais Niederösterreich in Vienna.

[10] Schumann celebrated the event in the Neue Zeitschrift für Musik with an ecstatic article in which, in a phrase destined to become famous, he hailed the symphony for its 'heavenly length'.

The symphony is scored for 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets in A and C, 2 bassoons, 2 horns in C, 2 trumpets in A and C, 3 trombones, timpani, and strings.