The Piano Concerto in D minor was composed between 1931-1935 and premiered on 23 November 1935, by the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Toivo Haapanen, with Ernst Linko as the soloist. The Concerto is preserved only as a piano reduction and instrumental parts, but the original score is lost. The piano part contains several cuts and facilitations by the 1935 soloist, while the instrumental parts show no omissions. The most probable result was that the orchestra played some passages without the soloist. For this recording, Leiviska's original solo part was restored.

Several reviews, mostly under pseudonyms, discussed the Symphony after its first performance. The reviews were mostly favourable. It was both praised and criticised for its structure and the inclusion of the waltz motive, and comments of the themes and melodies were also ambiguous. After 1948, the Symphony was performed three more times until 1951. After 70 years of silence, the Symphony was resurrected in 2022.