Published in 1770, this Symphony in G minor (or Sinfonia, as it is also called) was probably composed after J.C. Bach moved from Italy to London in 1762. A concert series established there by Bach and Carl Friedrich Abel in 1764 probably served as the venue for the premiere of this and the other five works in Bach's Op. 6 collection. Cast in three movements—with a central Andante of six or seven minutes framed by two short outer panels—this Symphony is probably the stormiest of the half-dozen in the set.

The opening Allegro is busy and serious, and instantly conveys a sense of urgency in the drive and anxious manner of its main theme. The alternate material is comparatively relaxed, but the development section exudes tension and the movement closes after the strings have stormed the heights.

The ensuing Andante is somber in its dour trills and mostly middle- and lower-range string scoring. But soon the music takes on more color in its sense of yearning and in the angelic passage that seems to rise ecstatically to the heavens. For all its grace and moments of sunshine, however, the music exhibits an undercurrent of tension and conflict throughout. The finale begins in a fury, but turns ebullient and confident in its secondary material. The dark clouds from the opening return, though, to reinforce the work's generally stormy character. Oddly, this Symphony turns quiet and gentle at the end, as if suddenly exhausted from all the previous angst.

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