Although he was nearly an exact contemporary of Mozart, Krauss' music does not much resemble that of the more famous Austrian genius. Krauss' life, education, and cultural leanings were very different from Mozart's. Not precocious, Krauss made a conscious decision to become a musician and composer at the age of twenty-two, after moving to Sweden and attaching himself to the court of King Gustav III, a serious patron of the arts. At this point he had studied music only for slightly more than three years. The biggest single influence on his musical style was Christoph Willibald Gluck, whose dramatic style Krauss followed closely. When King Gustav ordered him to tour several major European cities in 1782 as a sort of study course in music and the arts, Krauss finally met Gluck in Vienna and Joseph Haydn at Esterházy. After this meeting, Krauss completely revamped an earlier work, a C sharp minor symphony he had penned in Stockholm, recast it in C minor, and dedicated it to Haydn, who conducted the premiere.

The work is in Krauss' customary three movements and opens with a sort of dark noodling in the violins. The passage is pseudo-fugal in design, and gives way to an ominous brooding. Finally there is launched a spirited allegro which combines the styles of Krauss' two favorites, Gluck and Haydn. The second-movement andante opens with studied four-part harmony; in it one may learn why Krauss never achieved the fame of Gluck or Haydn. It is correct but rather unimaginative. The final movement is an uptempo allegro assai that contains the most effective writing in the piece, using a dramatic, driving figure propelled by energetic chuffing in the lower strings and set off with bright accents.

© Michael Morrison, Rovi