The Wranitzky Project

Sinfonies à grand orchestre, op 16

**Title page of Wranitzky's op. 16 Symphonies as published by André in 1792**

As Paul Wranitzky’s fame and popularity quickly rose in the early 1790s, publishers competed to satisfy the demand for his compositions. However, no publisher outdid André of Offenbach, who during the first half of the decade published over 20 opus numbers of Wranitzky’s works.

The three Sinfonies à Grand Orchestre, Op. 16 were issued in January 1792, just a few months after the three symphonies of Op. 11. Just like the preceding set, Op. 16 contained a mix of recent compositions and earlier works.

Op.16, No. 2

The compositional style and orchestral forces of the Symphony in A major place it within Wranitzky’s first symphonic period of the mid-1780s.

Without the trumpets and timpani of its two more ambitious companion works, it is more intimate in character and content. A gently undulating theme in the strings quietly opens the first movement before the full orchestra joins in. The forward momentum of the sonata-form movement is amusingly interrupted by musical surprises such as hemiolas and a stuttering figure in the lower ranges of the violins.

The lyrical slow movement opens serenely with a single viola accompanying the muted first violins. Winds and strings then take turns leading the way before finally joining together, never raising above piano.

Marked Allegro, the brief but vigorous Menuetto is the only movement not to open piano. Contrast is added by the understated Trio, scored for strings alone.

An amiable contredanse theme opens the Allegro molto rondo finale. The simplicity of the dance is effectively juxtaposed against the more elaborately treated episodes and coda.

by Daniel Bernhardsson