During the Schubert Centenary in 1928 the Columbia Graphophone Company offered a prize for an original symphony dedicated to the memory of Schubert. Atterberg's Symphony No. 6 in C won the first prize. According to the statement made by the International Jury, 'Atterberg's Symphony came closest to the ideal set by the Columbia Company in organising the contest as a challenge to modern musicians to explore the melodic vein, and to pay homage to Schubert. The result is gratifying as an antidote to certain extreme tendencies in modern symphonic writing. Atterberg's work has strength, beauty, and nobility.'