Claude-François-Marie Rigoley, Comte d'Ogny (1757-90) was one of the promoters of the Concert de la Loge Olympique in Paris. Sometime in either late 1784 or early 1785, he commissioned six symphonies from Haydn, agreeing to pay 25 gold louis d'or for each. Such a commission attests to Haydn's widespread fame at the time. The works were not composed in their present order: Nos. 83 and 87 (and possibly 85) date from 1785 while Nos. 82, 84, and 86 are from 1786. Haydn requested that his Viennese publisher, Artaria & Co., publish the works in the following order: 87, 85, 83, 84, 86, and 82. His wish was not granted. The Paris publication of 1788 uses the present order. Four of the "Paris" symphonies are scored for one flute and two each of oboe, bassoon, and horn, with strings; in Nos. 82 and 86 Haydn adds timpani and two trumpets. It is easy to see why Haydn jumped at the commission from Rigoley, which gave him a chance to experiment and create something on an altogether larger and more public scale than the works intended for the Esterházy court.

One of the three works in the group with a slow introduction, No. 85 begins in a profound manner, contrasting full-orchestra fortissimo chords with quiet, arching passages in the strings. The introduction takes on greater rhythmic drive and then halts on the dominant before the sprightly Allegro theme enters quietly in the strings. The main body of the movement pleasingly combines Haydn's monothematic economy with a graceful accessibility. We hear a full restatement of the first theme, with the addition of the flute, before a lengthy, highly energetic transition to the dominant, B flat. Once the new key is confirmed, the a version of the first theme sounds in the woodwinds, transposed to B flat. The same theme opens the development section, every measure of which contains an element of the theme as Haydn produces a dense wash of sound that lasts longer than the exposition. In the recapitulation, Haydn alters the transitional material and does not bother with a restatement of the original dominant-key section.

The second movement, an Andante in B flat major, is serious in mood, with an extended coda that develops previous material prior to a pianissimo close. Haydn expands the traditional proportions of the Minuet with long, motivically organized themes in both parts. His wit comes to the fore in the second part, in which a varied statement of the main theme is interrupted by three beats of rest before continuing at a much lower dynamic level. The trio is light and comical, its first theme played by a solo bassoon.

In an unusual move, Haydn begins the development section of the monothematic Finale with the theme on the dominant, later including an unusual, complete presentation on the subdominant (A flat major). Even more striking is the appearance of the theme on the dominant very near the end of the movement.

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