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 twenty-five 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.

All six of the "Paris" symphonies are scored for one flute and two each of oboe, bassoon, and horn, with strings with the exception of Nos. 82 and 86, to which Haydn adds timpani and two trumpets.

Considered by some to be the best of the "Paris" symphonies, Haydn's Symphony No. 86 maintains an unprecedented intensity from beginning to end. The slow introduction to the first movement, although relatively brief, is unusually expansive. A great change in atmosphere occurs at the beginning of the Allegro spirituoso sonata-form movement, in which the first theme begins in an unsettling manner. An outburst from the full orchestra consisting of three eighth notes finally confirms the tonic; the same outburst later does the same for the dominant (A major). The secondary theme is marked by a series of syncopated accents.

Haydn chose G major for the slow movement, labeled Capriccio and in a Largo tempo. Such a combination—a very slow tempo with a potential for profundity and a format that connotes complete structural freedom—produce a movement with very curious and astounding effects.

Sonata form permeates the Minuet and Trio. While following the traditional pattern of the minuet, Haydn takes his material through the modulations and resolutions that characterize sonata-form movements. In its lightness and measured step, the Trio resembles an Austrian Ländler.

Much as in the first movement, a series of eighth notes marks the changes in sections in the Finale, (Allegro con spirito). Here we find a merger of sonata and rondo form in which the typical central section of the rondo acts as a development section, and material that departs from the tonic on first hearing returns before the close.

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