Editing Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (section)

===Symphonies===
Among Bach's most popular and frequently recorded works are his symphonies.{{sfn|''Complete Works''|loc=[https://cpebach.org/prefaces/symphonies-preface.html Preface: Symphonies]}} While in Berlin, he wrote several string symphonies ([[Alfred Wotquenne|Wq.]] 173–181), most of which were later revised to add parts for wind instruments. Of these, the E minor symphony, Wq. 178, has been particularly popular.

In Hamburg, Bach wrote a major set of six string symphonies for [[Gottfried van Swieten]], Wq. 182 of 1773. These works were not published in his lifetime (van Swieten, who had commissioned them to be written in a more "difficult" style, preferred to retain them for private use),{{sfn|''Complete Works''|loc=Vol. III/2, Preface}} but since their rediscovery, have become increasingly popular.

However, Bach's best works in the form (by his own estimation){{sfn|''Complete Works''|loc=Vol. III/3, Preface}} are assuredly the four ''Orchester-Sinfonien mit zwölf obligaten Stimmen'', Wq. 183, which, as their title suggests, were written with obbligato wind parts that are integral to the texture, rather than being added on to an older string symphony. The first symphony (D major) in the set has been particularly popular, seeing a continuous performance and publication tradition all the way through the 19th century, which makes it the earliest such symphony.{{sfn|''Complete Works''|loc=Vol. III/3, Preface}} Some of its more unusual features have been taken as characteristic of Bach's style:<ref>Richard Crocker, ''A History of Musical Style''</ref> the work, although it is in D major, begins ''on'' a D major chord, which then turns into a D dominant-seventh chord, outlining ''G'' major. In fact, there is no cadence on D major (D major is not "confirmed" as the key of the piece) until the beginning of the [[recapitulation (music)|recapitulation]], quite late in the piece.