Having recently gained acceptance in Vienna with the premiere of the Fourth Symphony, Anton Bruckner received a visit from famed conductor Artur Nikisch who offered to premier the composer's Seventh Symphony. The concert took place in Leipzig with the Gewandhaus Orchestra on December 30, 1884; Hans Richter and the Vienna Philharmonic gave the symphony its local premiere in January 1885. Despite a cool reception from the critics, the work was an enormous success, and public enthusiasm helped to solidify Bruckner's growing reputation. Among the accolades was a telegram from Johann Strauss, Jr. which read "Am deeply moved. It was the musical experience of my life." Unlike most of his other symphonies, Bruckner's Seventh underwent virtually no revision; the one point of concern was a cymbal crash at the Adagio's climax which Bruckner added at the suggestion of friends, but then subsequently removed.

The symphony commences with a string tremolo from which the searching main theme arises; this theme is said to have been whistled to Bruckner in a dream by his late friend Ignaz Dorn, and it reappears throughout the symphony in subtle transformations. This is followed by a plaintive, yet animated, theme for woodwinds, and followed in turn by an imposing dance-like third theme. The development is expansive, making effective use of theme inversion, and the recapitulation is varied; a long crescendo using fragments of the opening theme forms a glowing and dynamic coda.

The deeply felt second movement, an adagio in song form, is mournful and dignified. Said to have been inspired by a premonition of Richard Wagner's death, the opening threnody breaks into a sonorous hymn for strings. This alternates with a beautiful arching theme which offers consolation at each appearance. The climax occurs with the third appearance of the movement's opening theme which, against an ostinato of rising sextuplets, is propelled to a blazing C major climax. Finally, a dirge for Wagner tubas, said to have been composed upon Bruckner's learning of Wagner's passing, follows as coda with the strings intoning a poignant transformation of the symphony's main theme.

With a contrast as stunning as the corresponding moment in Beethoven's Eroica, the windswept Scherzo which follows is one of Bruckner's best. The main theme is said to have been derived from the crowing of a cock; the wistfully nostalgic trio is deeply affecting.

The finale opens with an athletic transformation of the symphony's opening theme. This is followed by beautifully modulating chorale for strings against a walking bass, and in turn following by a thundering unison transformation of the opening theme in minor. These three wonderfully contrasting ideas are interwoven deliberately, yet with great animation and vigor, until the heartily extroverted coda brings home the symphony's opening theme in the full orchestra.

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