Haydn's Symphony No. 82 is the first of the six Paris Symphonies, popularly known as the Bear Symphony. The series of the symphonies was commissioned in 1786 by the Concert de la Loge Olympique, a well-known concert subscription in Paris (hence the name for the series as a whole).  "The Bear" was written for the largest orchestral ensemble that Haydn had written for up until that time, including reinforced woodwind parts and a large string section.

Adagietto from Symphony No. 5 is one of Mahler's most frequently performed compositions. Leonard Bernstein conducted it during the funeral Mass for Robert F. Kennedy at St. Patrick's Cathedral, Manhattan, on 8 June 1968.

Wagner's Siegfried Idyll is a symphonic poem for chamber orchestra. It was composed as a birthday present to his second wife, Cosima, after the birth of their son Siegfried in 1869. It was first performed on Christmas morning, 25 December 1870, by a small ensemble of the Tonhalle Orchester Zürich on the stairs of their villa at Tribschen (today part of Lucerne), Switzerland. Wagner originally intended the work to remain a private piece, but, due to financial pressures, he decided to sell the score in 1878. In doing so, Wagner expanded the orchestration to 35 players to make the piece more marketable.