ABSTRACT
Work on the first symphony began the same time as the String Quartet No. 1, although the latter was completed a year earlier than the symphony; it is scored for an orchestra of triple woodwinds and brass, along with a full complement of strings. Joonas Kokkonen's symphony was immediately recognized as an important contribution to the symphonic repertoire and has continued to maintain an active life in the concert hall. Kokkonen's second symphony was written in 1961, one year following the first. It is the singular instance when two works of a similar genre from the composer's oeuvre were composed within such a close proximity of time. While Kokkonen's account is not implausible, it is more likely that the tremendous critical response his first symphony received was the motivating factor behind him composing a second symphony immediately after the first.
