Ever since Beethoven ended his symphonic career with the Choral Symphony, the ninth symphony for any composer has been a watershed event, with composers such as Mahler and Bruckner either unable to finish theirs or failing to move beyond it. That the Russian-born Alfred Schnittke, one of the great post-Shostakovich symphonists, who died in 1998, came as close as he did to completing his Ninth Symphony was a triumph of determination. Laid low by a series of strokes that left his right arm paralyzed — he was right-handed — Schnittke persevered and wrote out three movements with his left hand.

Schnittke’s Ninth Symphony, as reconstructed by Alexander Raskatov, received its American premiere last week, performed by the Juilliard Orchestra under the direction of Dennis Russell Davies. The process of transforming what Schnittke wrote into a performance version was a long and laborious one. In a telephone interview before the premiere, Mr. Davies, whose work with new music is diverse and highly regarded, said of Schnittke’s manuscript that “it was almost shocking to look at it. But if you are careful and take the time it is readable.”

The composer’s widow, Irina, chose the Russian composer Raskatov who, like Schnittke himself, emigrated to Germany, to take on the task after two previous attempts to reconstruct the symphony proved unsuccessful. Schnittke had called Raskatov, who was born in 1953, “one of the most interesting composers of his generation.” According to Mr. Davies, Raskatov spent several years going over the manuscript and translating it before putting the work in final form. In addition, Raskatov composed a separate work, “Nunc dimittus: In memoriam Alfred Schnittke,” for performance following the three movements Schnittke wrote.

The Ninth Symphony had its world premiere in June in Dresden’s rebuilt Frauenkirche, with Mr. Davies conducting the Dresden Philharmonic. (The completion of the symphony was a co-commission by the Juilliard School, the Dresden Philharmonic, and the Bruckner Orchester Linz.) After the premiere, Mr. Davies said, he and Raskatov returned to the manuscript again to consider further corrections in areas such as discrepancies in presentation of the same thematic or harmonic material and inconsistencies in the notation of transposing instruments. “I have never had any compunction about helping a composer out if I am not getting in the way of the music,” Mr. Davies said.

The Ninth Symphony turned out rather differently from what one might have expected. There was little evidence of the biting abrasiveness to be found in much of Schnittke’s music. Rather, especially in the first two movements, each of which is marked “moderato,” the music has a reflective, even at times serene, quality. Schnittke relies on dissonance to be sure, but in a highly expressive way, and his feeling for expressiveness also shapes the melodic writing which, as in the opening four-note theme played by the cellos, tends to move in a straightforward stepwise motion and emphasize lyricism. The third movement, marked presto, is livelier, with clear-cut textures and melodic inventiveness. It maintains the work’s overall positive outlook, an outlook that might give rise to the inference that Schnittke looked back on his life with contentment.

Raskatov’s “Nunc dimittis” seemed to have more qualities associated with Schnittke than did the symphony itself. For one thing, the harpsichord — a Schnittke trademark that gives his music a special edge — was far more prominent. And the piece shows the kind of adventuresome modernistic spirit present in other Schnittke works but muted in the symphony. The mezzo-soprano, Alison Tupay, sang the wide-ranging, often disjunct solo vocal part tellingly, and the Hilliard Ensemble, four men strong, sang handsomely in close harmonies. Here and in the symphony, Mr. Davies led a lucid, well-ordered performance.

The concert opened with Haydn’s Sinfonia Concertante, Op. 84, performed by the engaging soloists Nicholas Stovall (oboe), Virya Quesada (bassoon), Emilie-Anne Gendron (violin), and Gal Nyska (cello). The work was an apt choice given Schnittke’s fondness for the concerto grosso form, although it shows Haydn in a somewhat stiffer, more formal guise than do the symphonies.