Completed in Milan on November 2, 1771, this is another of Mozart's early symphonies in Italian style, but unlike his earlier Italian overture-symphonies, this one has a full-fledged minuet. The first movement, Allegro, is a witty jumble of motivic fragments, including descending triads and jittery episodes common in the music of Mozart's slightly earlier Mannheim contemporaries; the less volatile second subject is announced by the oboes and violas. This exposition is followed, as was becoming common, by a concise development and recapitulation.

The monothematic Andante switches to B flat major and gives the long-lined principal theme to the violins, supported by the constant movement and broken chords of the second violins and violas; this makes the music sound swifter than it really is, and calls to mind the slowish but never heavy movements in Mozart's future Salzburg serenades.

The Minuet is quite short, simultaneously sleek, and courtly, with syncopated accompaniment and a smoother C major trio section for strings alone. The concluding Molto allegro, equally compact, is a rondo that opens with a hunting-horn tune and detours into episodes of pretend seriousness, as the oboes mockingly echo fragments of the strings' melody.

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