ABSTRACT
Johann Christian Bach's three Op. 9 symphonies have a complex and confusing orchestration history, rooted in the various scorings of the many editions, the majority of which were printed during the composer's lifetime. The scoring for strings, pairs of oboes, and horns, as found in the 1773 Longman & Lukey edition, was long assumed to be Bach's original orchestration. Recent research has revealed a more elaborate scoring for strings, pairs of clarinets, horns, and bassoons that predates the 1773 print. While consideration of stylistic aspects of Bach's instrumental writing provides some compelling insight into his intended orchestration, without additional proof it has been difficult to reach a definitive conclusion on this issue. Bach's second lawsuit provides us with that much-needed evidence.
