"Where does the Western World come from? Where is it going, if we continue the course of the past 1,000 years -- it is the history of Europeans fearing too strong neighbors."

No wonder then that the work is set off with warlike sounds: A continuously returning atmosphere that resolves into a nirvana-like happy ending at the end of the second movement. The course of the symphony gives away much about Gundermann's development as a composer, such as his stays in Beijing or New York, where the focus was movie music and multimedia.

Deutsche Welle is offering the first movement -- Vergangenheit (The Past) -- which was first performed on Sept. 21, 2007, in the Beethoven Hall in Bonn. The Beethoven Orchestra played under the leadership of the conductor Roman Kofman.