Sinfonia No. 61 in Bb

Franz Xaver Richter (1709-1789) was one of the foremost composers of the Mannheim school even though he consciously eschewed the fashionable style prevalent there and eventually left to pursue his career elsewhere. The present work, which was composed ca 1760, was published in Paris by Le Chevardière in 1763 as the fifth in a set of six symphonies by Johann Stamitz (= Op.8 No.5). That the work was republished or reissued with the same opus number two years later in London by Walsh is a measure of its contemporary popularity. No oboe parts have been traced for the work and in all likelihood the current scoring for horns, strings and continuo is the original. The musical style and syntax of the first movement is far more modern than that of the second and third movements which still bear a striking resemblance to the works Richter wrote before moving to Mannheim in the late 1740s.