The dominant Italian opera of the 19th century pushed Italian instrumental music into the background, interrupting its tradition. The so-called Generazione dell'Ottanta, a generation of composers that includes Ottorino Respighi, Ildebrando Pizzetti, Gian Francesco Malipiero, and Alfredo Casella, dedicated themselves to the renaissance of a distinct Italian symphonic music. Their symphonic works are examined in this book in relation to the Italian context around 1900, the output of the aforementioned composers, and their return to older musical traditions. Based on the music-historical conditions and perspectives of the 1880s, comparable criteria such as form and structure should provide insight into how these symphonies can be classified within the Italian music history, as well as the contemporary European context.