Sinfonia in Eb

Franz Xaver Dussek (1731-1799) was the most prominent composer of instrumental music in Prague during his lifetime. A near contemporary of Haydn and a friend of Mozart, he composed a large number of symphonies, mainly during the 1760s and 1770s, a period of enormous economic and artistic vitality in the Habsburg dominions. Dussek’s finely-wrought symphonies are not without their progressive features, such as the inclusion of wind instruments in the slow movements. At their best Dussek’s symphonies are works of elegance and imagination and reveal a strong melodic gift; they compare very favourably with those of his compatriot Wanhal, and Viennese contemporaries such as Dittersdorf and Hofmann.