- Bach wrote this set of four symphonies, Orchester-Sinfonien mit zwölf obligaten Stimmen (Orchestral Symphonies with Twelve Obbligato Parts), Wq. 183, while he was living in Hamburg and serving as Kapellmeister of the city’s principal churches.
- Bach was commissioned to write the Wq. 183 symphonies in 1775-6, and the set was published in 1780. The name of the patron who commissioned this set has been lost to history, but we know that C.P.E. Bach had some high-profile clients in Hamburg.
- Bach’s Wq. 183 symphonies are his most lavishly orchestrated. Unlike his earlier symphonies, which stay closer to the Italian opera overture or sinfonia model, the Wq. 183 symphonies look forward to the Classical-era symphony in their use of a fuller orchestra.
- Fun fact – The Wq. 183 symphonies, particularly Symphony No. 1 in D Major, were the only symphonies by a composer of Bach’s generation to have a continuous performing tradition running from his era to ours.1
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).
Cut IDs
20881 45332 45335 20882 27500