Symphony no. 7 in C-sharp minor, op. 131

Prokofiev's Seventh Symphony was written in 1951 and 1952, partly with a commission for children's radio behind it, and it was his last completed large work; he died five months after the premiere. Samuil Samosud conducted the first performance in Moscow on 11 October 1952. Samosud persuaded the composer to add a loud alternative ending for the finale, arguing that it would help the symphony's chances of a state prize; Prokofiev wrote it, and asked that the quiet original ending be the one used. The Lenin Prize followed in 1957, posthumously.