Sinfonia in D

Dittersdorf (1739-1799) was one of the most prolific and versatile of Haydn’s and Mozart’s Viennese contemporaries. He wrote fluently and attractively in all genres and his symphonies, of which there are over a hundred, reveal a wealth of novel solutions to the problems of form and a subversive wit that bears comparison only with Haydn’s. Although his programmatic symphonies are rightly lauded for their great originality, Dittersdorf’s more orthodox works are also remarkable for their exuberant musical invention and impressive command of the orchestra. The present work was probably composed during the period ca 1773-1779 and the relative paucity of extant sources suggests that it was not as widely disseminated as many of the composer’s other symphonies in spite of its many compelling musical qualities.