Symphony No. 1 was written in 1894 and 1895. Upon completing it, Kalinnikov sent the score to Semyon Kruglikov, his former harmony teacher and an influential music critic. Deeply impressed, Kruglikov arranged for the work’s performance at a concert in Kiev, where it enjoyed a tremendous success. Before long it was heard in Moscow, Vienna, Berlin and elsewhere. After a period of popularity the symphony drifted to the margins of the standard orchestral repertory, except in Russia, where it has never lost favor.