- Written between 1755 and 1762, C.P.E. Bach’s eight “Berlin” Symphonies were composed while he was working in Berlin for Frederick the Great. Peter Wollny, the General Editor of the complete edition of C.P.E. Bach’s symphonies, observes that these Berlin Symphonies are unusual in that we (as yet) know of no occasion for which they were written.
- All of Bach’s symphonies have a three-movement structure: fast-slow-fast.
- Fun fact – The Mendelssohns’ teacher Carl Friedrich Zelter had copies of C.P.E. Bach’s Berlin Symphonies. Peter Wollney suggests C.P.E. Bach’s symphonies were a model for Felix Mendelssohn’s youthful string symphonies.
- Additional fun fact – A proliferation of scores demonstrates that C.P.E. Bach’s symphonies entered the repertory in the late 18th century and were still performed after his death (the idea of a canon of musical classics was only just developing at the time; most composers in the Baroque had written music for specific occasions, rather than for posterity).1
- Berlin Symphonies overview:
- Symphony in C Major, H. 649, Wq. 174 (1755)
- Symphony in F Major, H. 650, Wq. 175 (1755)
- Symphony in D Major, H. 651, Wq. 176 (1756)
- Symphony in e minor, H. 652, Wq. 177 (1756)
- Symphony in e minor, H. 653, Wq. 178 (1756)
- Symphony in E-flat Major, H. 654, Wq. 179 (1757)
- Symphony in G Major, H. 655, Wq. 180 (1758)
- Symphony in F Major, H. 656, Wq. 181 (1758; rev. 1762)2
Sources
- Peter Wollner, Preface to Symphonies, from C.P.E. Bach: The Complete Works: Vol. III/1: Berlin Symphonies, ed. Ekkehard Krüger and Tobias Schwinger (Cambridge, MA: The Packard Humanities Institute, 2008).
- Christoph Wolff and Ulrich Leisinger, “Bach, Carl Philipp Emanuel,” Grove Music Online (2001), accessed March 16, 2026, https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-6002278185.
Cut IDs
27498 23797 43080 23798