Volume 17 of series II of the New Liszt Edition contains the transcriptions for piano of Beethoven's Symphonies Nos. 1-4. Liszt himself remarked that the symphony transcriptions are not piano reductions but piano scores ('partitions de piano') which do not merely consist of the notes of the works transcribed, but are able to convey the overall effect and spirit of the work. The EMB edition is the only one to follow Liszt's express intention by correcting the transcriptions in many places to accord with the original works (Beethoven's scores).

As customary, there are two versions of the publication: a blue clothbound edition and a grey softcover edition. The preface, which gives the most important information on the contents and technical details, is identical in both versions, but only the former includes an English description of the sources and a critical commentary. Both versions include facsimiles of pages from Liszt's original autograph manuscript.