Luigi Boccherini (1743 - 1805) ambitiously attempts in this work to widen the expressive scope and unify the formal design of the Classical era's defining genre, the symphony.

It shows that even in isolation in Spain (where he was a well-paid member of the musical establishment of the Court of the Infante Don Luis de Bourbon [the King's brother]) Boccherini was keeping track of developments on the wider stage in Europe. For his own part, he arranged for the publication of his music—the six symphonies (or Six Concerti for Full Orchestra, Op. 12 as they were titled in the original edition) were published by the house of La Chevardièr in Paris.

In 1776, Boccherini's symphonies were nearly as impressive as Haydn's. It is scored for two flute, two horns, and strings. Use of flutes rather than the more often-encountered oboes gives a mellower tone to the music, a trademark of Boccherini's. The symphony is quite large-scale for its day at over 25 minutes.

The opening movement, Allegro assai, announces that it is to be bold, broad, and important with its opening three chords. Nevertheless, the melodic profiles of the movement are almost always smooth. There is a darkness in this constant lyricism, a disturbed undercurrent of sadness the goes deeper than the frequently-encountered melancholy strain in certain Classical-era music. This makes happier, singing moments in the movement more effective, and the contrast between the two subjects creates a sense of drama that sustains the eight- to nine-minute movement, while the fast tempo allows it to be full of incident.

In contrast, the ensuing Larghetto movement creates a feeling of repose, while the music is even sadder. Here Boccherini opts for simple colors, restricting himself to the string orchestra alone. This is a strongly affecting movement that rivals all but the most genius-tinged slow movements of Haydn or Mozart.

The minuet (Menuetto con moto) is a fairly fast example of the stately dance, with assertive bass lines and plaintive melodies, with the Trio, which is in D minor, recalling the dark mood of the opening movement.

The final movement constitutes an intriguing—though not really successful—experiment in symphonic form. It opens with what seems to be an introduction in Grave tempo. The melody and harmonies are slowed down versions of a major idea in the opening movement. It is fairly long, and modulated to the key of E major, which is the dominant key of the symphony's A major. This, of course, is also the key at the beginning of the first movement's development section, after the double bar line marking the end of the exposition. Boccherini pauses momentarily, then simply has the orchestra go back to that double bar line and play the entire development and recapitulation of the first movement as the fast portion of the finale. If this is meant as an early experiment in cyclical form (a favorite device of the later Romantic Age), it does not work well handled in this manner.

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