Sinfonia 'Il delirio delli compositori, ossia Il gusto d'oggidi'

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. Among Dittersdorf’s most original works are his programmatic symphonies and Il delirio delli compositori, ossia Il gusto d’oggidi (‘The Delirium of the Composers; or the Taste of Today’, a brilliant spoof on the Sturm und Drang style), is an extremely fine example.