George Frederick Bristow (1825–98), considered by many of his contemporaries to be among the best American composers of the second half of the nineteenth century, was a pillar of the New York musical community. He wrote his Symphony no. 4 in E minor, op. 50 (“Arcadian”), in 1872–73 on a commission from the Philharmonic Society of Brooklyn. Unlike his earlier symphonies, which had been faulted by some contemporary critics as being too “Europeanist,” the Arcadian follows an overtly American extramusical program that depicts pioneers’ trek across the country. Early performances of the symphony met with widespread acclaim, but this work, like many compositions by other American composers, was shelved. This edition is the first publication of the Arcadian Symphony and joins a welcome body of new scholarship on Bristow just in time for the bicentennial of his birth in 2025 and the two hundred fiftieth birthday of the nation in 2026.

Central to the repertoire of Western art music since the 1700s, the symphony has come to be regarded as one of the ultimate compositional challenges. In his series The Symphonic Repertoire, the late A. Peter Brown explored the symphony in Europe from its origins into the 20th century. In Volume V, Brown's former students and colleagues continue his vision by turning to the symphony in the Western Hemisphere. It examines the work of numerous symphonists active from the early 1800s to the present day and the unique challenges they faced in contributing to the European symphonic tradition. The research adds to an unmatched compendium of knowledge for the student, teacher, performer, and sophisticated amateur. This much-anticipated fifth volume of The Symphonic Repertoire: The Symphony in the Americas offers a user-friendly, comprehensive history of the symphony genre in the United States and Latin America.

As American classical music struggled for recognition in the mid-nineteenth century, George Frederick Bristow emerged as one of its most energetic champions and practitioners. Katherine K. Preston explores the life and works of a figure admired in his own time and credited today with producing the first American grand opera and composing important works that ranged from oratorios to symphonies to chamber music. Preston reveals Bristow's passion for creating and promoting music, his skills as a businessman and educator, the respect paid him by contemporaries and students, and his tireless work as both a composer and in-demand performer. As she examines Bristow against the backdrop of the music scene in New York City, Preston illuminates the little-known creative and performance culture that he helped define and create. Vivid and richly detailed, George Frederick Bristow enriches our perceptions of musical life in nineteenth-century America.