The symphony is scored for 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets in C, 2 bassoons, contrabassoon, 4 horns in C, 2 trumpets in C, 3 trombones, timpani and strings.
According to Emanuel Overbeeke the work shows the composer's inexperience (he was 19 years old when writing it), in particular in the so-called diffuseness of the first and second movements.
[3][dubious – discuss] For John Deathridge, on the other hand, the symphony, albeit unoriginal in its Beethovenian style, evinces a technical assurance proving the ability of its young author.
[4] The symphony was performed in rehearsal by a student orchestra at the Prague Conservatory in November 1832, conducted by Dionys Weber, with Wagner in attendance.
It received its first public performance on 15 December, at the Euterpe music society in Leipzig, conducted by Wagner's early teacher, Christian Gottlieb Müller.