Although it is not clear as to the occasion, if any, for which Haydn wrote his trio of Symphonies Nos. 79-81, it is a good possibility that the three were to tie in with a projected tour of England. Despite the anticipated way being paved by the London press, this was to prove premature, albeit the delay only served to give impetus to this eventual triumph in the composer's life. Meanwhile this set from 1783 - 1874 are further documentation of the middle-aged composer hitting his stride.

Some interesting formal innovations emerge here. There is enough material in the lively first movement's opening theme to supply two, the second half having the distinctly nautical flavor of a hornpipe. The second theme has a Mozartian lyricism, while the unison found in the third have led some to suggest the symphony began life as a chamber work. Perhaps most striking is the overlapping of developmental processes into the recapitulation. The following adagio cantabile (more of an andante despite its designation) commences tunefully and relaxed, unencumbered by any heavy emotional baggage, but startlingly shifts gears midway into a mercurial allegro. Here is a touch which could leave even a later-day audience slack-jawed; indeed, one could gain the impression of having nodded off, missed the minuet and awaken in the finale! The following minuet and trio, although conventional, is in Haydn's engaging bucolic mode, the horns and woodwinds adding delicate highlights to the overall string color. The rondo finale in the clarity of its string-dominated writing has also grist for the theory that the symphony began life as chamber music; the delayed entry and subsequent paucity of the winds' presence would suggest their being worked into the fabric after the fact. Nonetheless, there is little to fault in the spry conclusion to another example of Haydn perfecting his symphonic craft.

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