Gossec - Symphonie à 17 parties en fa majeur

Rec.:Concerto Köln

     Checking the dates on Francois-Joseph Gossec I find it interesting that it was written in 1809 by a composer who did most of his symphonic writing in the 1760's and 1770's. This is because this sounds like a Baroque work in many ways that is just adopting the structure of a Classical work. What is even weirder are hearing little flashes of Romanticism in spots. Probably because this guy was born in 1734 and lived to be 95! Probably making him a unique example of a composer who wrote in three pretty distinct eras.

    That is also what I would say is the most compelling case for checking this symphony out. It is crazy to think that this was written AFTER Beethoven 1. I can't think of anything else I've heard like this and I actually quite enjoy it. It has the building intensity of Baroque sequencing practice, with the clarity of Classical melodies, and the orchestration sense and dramatic moments of an early Romantic work (minus the harpsichord, but again that is what makes this great).

    I'm going to skip the movement by movement break down here because the above describes each movement well. Each movement serves the purpose you expect out of a symphony at the time, although I find it odd that the minuet is the longest movement. Another one to definitely listen to. Oh, I also picked this because I like the idea of 17 parties, especially in F major.