This three-movement Classical-era symphony is impressive for its use of solo instruments and for its suave, ceremonial quality.

It is so stately and grand in tone that one is tempted to look for any occasion at the Spanish Royal Court or the Court of the composer's patron, Don Luis Antonio Jaime of Bourbon (the King's younger brother) to explain it. Boccherini worked for Don Luis from 1770 until that Prince's death in 1785, being paid handsomely to compensate him for passing up opportunities to work for German monarchs or otherwise gain regular access to the mainstream of European music. Boccherini's isolation increased when he went with Don Luis after the Prince's exile from the royal court in Madrid in 1776 for marrying an unapproved bride for the unacceptable reason that he had fallen in love with her.

But the fact is that no one knows what royal occasion, if any, might have caused the composition of this regal work. Its exact composition date is unknown, but it was surely composed not long before its 1776 publication in Paris.

The orchestration of the symphony is remarkable. It calls for an orchestra plus a solo group of two horns, two violins, and two cellos. Boccherini, a cellist, stretched the capabilities of the cello to the utmost, and also called on the first horn to produce some remarkable high notes. The six soloists don't necessarily all play at once (as they would have if this were a Baroque concerto grosso) but play in groups or in solo to produce a constantly changing spectrum of sound.

The first movement, Allegro maestoso, has, at 14 minutes, a particularly broad dimension for the time. Much of this is because the soloists all have their turn at the main musical ideas (including a dangerously high part for first horn and a cadenza for the both of them), but nonetheless it is symphonic arch of proportions rarely attempted before them. It never loses its courtly flavor.

The two other movements, marked Grave and Allegro con moto, are played without pause, creating a span of sound that just about balances the opening movement in duration. Here the oboes from the main body of the orchestra are replaced by flutes (in those days the same woodwind soloists were required to play either instrument), and this creates a warm, intimate sound. Modulations are quite free in the inventive and graceful slow movement, with the main theme appearing in C minor, its dominant of G minor, and its relative major, E flat. At that point a solo violin and a solo cello extend the main theme, and later a second cello joins to create a rich chamber music texture, and continue until the end of the slow movement, at which point the music returns to the symphony's main key of E flat, for a vigorous rondo with practically no solo work.

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