Overshadowed by his older brother Franz Joseph, Johann Michael Haydn enjoyed great esteem during his lifetime. There is evidence suggesting that the young Mozart patterned some of his compositions on those of Michael Haydn and the stylistic similarity between their music is such that several of Haydn's works were long thought to be by Mozart, including the Sinfonia in G included in this first volume devoted to his Symphonies. All four of the lively and inventive works here were composed in the 1780s and specifically tailored for the Salzburg court.