The picture of a highly fertile musical imagination may be assembled by the 108-odd symphonies penned by Haydn. All but a handful do not contain at least one innovation, and usually more, this among even his least-known in the genre. Number 20 in C major, another of those with a nebulous date of origin (most likely from the period of Count Morzin's patronage), shows a few such formal tweaks; at such passages one can almost envision the genial composer, quill pen relaxed over staff paper, smiling to himself.

The bright sheen of the symphony derives in part from the addition of trumpets and high horns (C-crooked, and particularly bright in period-instrument recordings). The opening allegro is in fleet 2/4, a departure from the then-conventional triple meter for opening movements, but aside from that a rather "textbook" sonata movement. The following andante cantabile is just that, marked by a Mozartian lyricism and expressiveness. The following minuet is in the gallant style and marked by the use of a triplet on the upbeat, the dual theme stated by trumpets and violins. The trio, for strings only, is in the character of a German dance. But the true novelty of the work is in the 3/8 time finale. In binary form, both A and B episodes are miniature sonatas, each complete with exposition, development, and recapitulation. One wonders to what extent this was appreciated by an audience largely comprised of easily distracted aristocracy.

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