In 1761 Haydn was engaged to work for Prince Nicolas Esterházy, one of the highest-ranking families of the Hungarian nobility. He was in charge of the musical establishment, including an orchestra of around 25 players. They divided their time between Prince Nicolas' estate in Eisenstadt (not far from Vienna) and in his great summer palace, Esterháza, near Suttor in what is now Hungary. This was quite an isolated location, and the work there generally kept Haydn's musicians away from their families for an extended period. These conditions occasioned this famous symphony's composition and first performance. According to Haydn's friend Griesinger, the Prince had decided to extend his summer stay for an indefinite time, discomfiting the musicians. So Haydn wrote the last part of the finale of the symphony so that each group of musicians ends its part at a different time. The musicians were instructed to get up, snuff out the candles on the music stands, take the written music for their parts, and leave the stage. In the end only Haydn and his concertmaster, Tommasini, were left, playing violin. (They were the only two musicians who were permitted to bring their families to Esterháza.) The Prince, according to Haydn, got the point and ordered his retinue's departure the next day.

Overall the symphony is a melancholy work. The first movement is urgent and agitated. The key of F sharp minor is a rarely used one in the eighteenth century and contributes a feeling of tension. Haydn experiments with form; the recapitulation in this movement is not literal, but continues developing the melodies. The Adagio and Minuet are also restless.

© All Music Guide