The 20th century was supposed to spell the end of the symphony, a 19th-century musical construct that many said had outlived its usefulness in an age when orchestras were no longer the playthings of emperors and kings. “But it took root elsewhere, acquiring a nationalist character in Finland (Sibelius), Denmark (Nielsen), Mexico (Chavez), Brazil (Villa Lobos), Britain (notably Vaughn Williams) and America… Many composers today simply write orchestral pieces and give them fanciful names. Only in Russia and the onetime Soviet satellites has the symphony thrived in a direct line between the 19th and 21st centuries.”