Franz Lachner was a close friend of Schubert in Vienna, but outlived his friend by more than sixty years, to be displaced as General Music Director in Munich by the arrival of Wagner there in 1864. Lachner was a thoroughly competent composer, using a musical language based on a solid classical technique. His orchestral works include eight symphonies, the first written in the year of Schubert's death and the last in 1851. His seven orchestral suites span a period from 1861 to 1881.
