Instrumentation in the earliest symphonies

Symphony was a popular genre of music in the eighteenth century. It was developed from the overtures (also called 'sinfonia'), which were played at the beginning of operas. When we think of 'symphony', we always think of an orchestra consists of strings, woodwinds, brass and percussion. However, the earliest symphonies in the world were actually consists of strings only. These symphonies were usually composed before 1760. Symphony in B flat major (Them. Index 65) by Franz Xaver Richter (1709-1789) is one of the earliest symphonies. It was written for a string orchestra that consists of 2 violins, viola, and basso (most likely to be cello). Also, the composer wrote figured bass (some numbers under the score) so that basso continuo like harpsichord could be played with the string orchestra. The audio presents the beginning of the third movement of the symphony, which is the fast and the last movement of the whole symphony. Since the piece have not been recorded by anyone, the audio is produced by Sibelius 7 Sounds Chamber.