Arne's four symphonies were published in London in 1767, 11 years before his death, and are all in the three-movement form of the Italian sinfonia. They owe more to Johann Christian Bach than to Handel, by contrast with those of his close contemporary William Boyce. The symphonies are scored for strings with, variously, flutes, oboes, bassoons, horns and timpani and display a remarkable fondness for minor keys: the first three all have a central slow movement in a minor key and No. 4, the finest of them (with almost concertante use of flutes, oboes and horns in its second and third movements), is actually set in C minor.
These symphonies were recorded by the Bournemouth Sinfonietta under Kenneth Montgomery for HMV soon after their first modern publication (by OUP in 1973, in an edition by Richard Platt). It would be nice to be able to report that the new recording is even better than the earlier one, but despite its impression of 'business' and vitality—enhanced by the closeness of the rather resonant recording—comparison shows that the new version lacks the style, the control and the rhythmic spring of Kenneth Montgomery's performances. I can sense the veiled twinkle in Arne's eye in Bartolozzi's well-known portrait on Montgomery's record, but search in vain for it in Shepherd's. It should be added that the HMV recording, which still sounds remarkably fresh, presents the four symphonies in numerical order (unlike the Chandos), and that it also includes a fascinating Symphony in D by the 18-year-old Samuel Wesley, composed in 1784.'