It is written for an orchestra consisting of piccolo, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets in B-flat, 2 bassoons, contrabassoon, 2 horns in F, 2 trumpets in C, 2 tenor trombones and one bass (silent until the Finale[1]), timpani and strings.
Although labelled "Classical," many of the work's features point to Beethoven rather than Haydn or Mozart, such as "the way in which Shapero paces himself, alternating long passages in the tonic and the dominant, with fast, dramatic modulations often reserved for transitions and developments.
"[3] But there are modern features as well, with "the work's orchestration, in general, ... distinctively bright and brassy, and undoubtedly derived a fair amount from Piston and Copland, as well as from the composer's experience as a dance band arranger.
"[12] By the end of the twentieth century, there was only one other recording of the piece, by André Previn and the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra,[13] a fact that has not helped the work's reception.
[18] Prior to the Symphony for Classical Orchestra, the composer, still in his twenties, "was producing a series of chamber and orchestral works, each one longer and grander than the last,"[19] but afterwards wrote rather little music for the rest of his life.