The symphony is scored for two
flutes, two
oboes, two
bassoons, two
horns, two
trumpets,
timpani and
strings. The work is in standard four-
movement form:
I. Adagio – Allegro assai The first movement is in
sonata form: after an introduction follows an
exposition that ends with a
repeat sign, a
development, a
recapitulation and a
coda. The introduction is twenty measures long and marked "Adagio". It opens with the orchestra playing the
tonic note, D, in unison, avoiding the establishment of the home key of D major with root-position harmony. The introduction then proceeds on an harmonic excursion, through the
dominant (A major), a
Neapolitan chord (E major, built on G), a
diminished seventh, the
parallel minor (D minor), and the
subdominant minor (G minor), before concluding with a
dominant seventh chord. After the dominant seventh chord, the main body of the movement, marked "Allegro", commences with the statement of the principal theme. The exposition then continues with a transitional passage before a secondary theme in the
dominant, A major. The American musicologist A. Peter Brown compared the secondary theme to a
Ländler. The development involves significant re-working of a motif from the secondary theme. The motif is inverted, and passed through a series of remote keys. Unusually for a late Haydn work, the recapitulation involves few surprises. It reprises the principal and secondary themes in the tonic before a short
coda.
II. Largo cantabile Towards the end of the second movement, the music gradually becomes slower and softer until an unexpected fortissimo
bassoon "fart" brings the music back for the movement's closing. This shows Haydn's sense of humor—similar to the 2nd movement of the
Surprise Symphony. Antony Hodgson identifies
George Szell as a conductor who was not afraid to overdo "the vulgarity of this joke". Hodgson argues that "if, in concert, none of the audience laughs, then the episode must have been underplayed."
III. Menuetto. Allegro The minuet proper has a
ländler character. The minuet's trio is highly original and juxtaposes timpani-punctated fanfare outbursts with quieter passages scored only for strings. Kluge also states that Haydn wrote in a letter to
Maria Anna von Genzinger that he was not completely satisfied with the finale because he considered it weak compared to the first movement. He stated that he planned to revise it, but there is no evidence that any revision ever took place. ==References==