American Premieres at the BSO
American Premieres: The 1880s & 1890s
The BSO performances at the end of the 19th century were punctuated with works by Bizet, Brahms, and Bruckner.
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American Premieres: The 1900s
Audiences at the turn of the century were privileged to hear over forty new works, including Litolff's King Lear Overture and Sibelius' Song of Spring.
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American Premieres: The 1910s
The premieres of the 1910s were conducted by Karl Muck, Max Fiedler, and Pierre Monteux.
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American Premieres: The 1920s
The "Roaring Twenties" arrived at Symphony Hall with the sounds of Albert Roussel, Claude Debussy, and Manuel Falla.
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American Premieres: The 1930s
Mahler's Symphony No. 9, Ravel's Concerto for Piano (for the left hand), and Profokiev's Peter and the Wolf, op. 67 all premiered at Symphony Hall during the 1930s.
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American Premieres: The 1940s
Serge Koussevitzky conducted both Arthur Honegger's Symphony for Strings and Richard Strauss' Metamorphosen, a study for 23 solo string instruments among others in the '40s.
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American Premieres: The 1950s
During the 1950s, Leonard Bernstein's Serenade for Violin, String Orchestra and Percussion made its American debut followed by Henry Barraud's Te Deum, in memory of Serge Koussevitzky.
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American Premieres: The 1960s
Symphony Hall resonated during the 1960s with the music of Leos Janácek, Alberto Ginastera, and Alexander Scriabin.
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American Premieres: The 1970s
Conducting multiple U.S. premieres in the years to follow were Colin Davis, William Steinberg, and Michael Tilson Thomas.
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American Premieres: The 1980s
BSO audiences of the 1980s enjoyed Oliver Messiaen's Three Tableaux from Saint Francis of Assisi, as well as Toru Takemitsu's To the Edge of Dream, both conducted by Seiji Ozawa.
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American Premieres: The 1990s
Combined in the programs of the 1990s were the American premieres of Benjamin Britten's Suite from Death in Venice, Op. 88a, and Alfred Schnittke's Epilogue (Out of the World) from Peer Gynt.
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American Premieres: The 2000s
A new century at the BSO started with Osvaldo Golijov's Le Pasion Segun San Marcos and Judith Weir's Moon and Star.
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