During World War II, a recording by pianist Oscar Levant with the Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Eugene Ormandy was made on August 21, 1945. This recording, labelled Columbia Masterworks 251, became one of the best-selling record albums of that year. Over a decade later in 1958, the Hamburg Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Hans-Jürgen Walther and with David Haines on piano recorded an 8:16 version for Somerset Records. The album cover featured a "photographie de nuit" of the Chrysler Building—an Art Deco-style skyscraper—and the surrounding cityscape with a blue hue.