The Symphony for Strings (Russian: Симфония для струнного оркестра, romanized: Simfoniya dlya strunnogo orkestra, lit.

That same year, he performed in the world premiere of his Piano Concerto, partnered by the Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Yevgeny Mravinsky.

A number of his works, including his score to the film Virgin Soil Upturned and collaborations with Ivan Dzerzhinsky, became instantly popular in the Soviet Union.

What he referred to as "state art", such as the operas Into the Storm by Tikhon Khrennikov and Semyon Kotko by Sergei Prokofiev repulsed him because of what he perceived as their essential falsity.

At the same time, Sviridov increasingly felt estranged from the music of Igor Stravinsky—whose Perséphone, Symphony of Psalms, and Jeu de cartes he knew well—and Dmitri Shostakovich.

An austere and broadly melodic "Andante con moto" gives way to a finale of a determined character that resolves the tension of the earlier movements.

[6] The world premiere of the Symphony for Strings occurred on December 28, 1940, during a retrospective of Soviet music held in the Large Hall of the Leningrad Philharmonia.

[15] Others, such as the musicologist Daniel Zhitomirsky and composer Boris Klyuzner [ru], defended Shostakovich's pupils, including Sviridov.

The Symphony for Strings was influenced not just by Shostakovich, Klyuzner added, but also by Stravinsky and Mahler, albeit incorporated into Sviridov's personal style.

[18] The Moscow Soloists and Bashmet subsequently made the premiere recording of the Symphony for Strings for Onyx Classics.