Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach's Sinfonia à 10 in B flat major CR C 28 (Wf I/20)—to give its full, original title—is J.C.F. Bach's best-known symphony. Scored in four movements, it is comparable to a Haydn symphony in its form, breadth, and assurance of style. This symphony is also likely the very last composition J.C.F. Bach put his hand to as it was written in August 1794; Bach died the following January. The excellence of this work may have been spurred on by some healthy—though probably in Bach's view, annoying—competition in the figure of Bohemian composer Franz Christoph Neubauer, who'd arrived in Bückeberg in 1792 and began to conspicuously ingratiate himself into the court of Bach's patroness, Princess Juliana. The emphasis on wind choirs—a Neubauer specialty—seems to reflect the influence of the young upstart, and to assert to Princess Juliana that the composer who had already served her court faithfully for 30 years could do anything the newcomer could do. Nevertheless, Bach's health did fail in relatively short order, and probably contrary to his wishes he was immediately replaced by Neubauer. However, it was to be a short appointment, as Neubauer himself only lasted nine months in the position, succumbing to his own excessive appetite for alcohol at the age of 35.

© Uncle Dave Lewis , Rovi