This symphony is full of witty and revolutionary features, and features a musical joke written for the benefit of the cellos and other bass-line players exclusively. It is notable for its frequent contrasts of loud (f) and soft (p), and for its unusually profuse employment of extra loud (ff) and extra soft (pp) markings, often right next to each other. Haydn uses this exaggerated contrast for witty and startling effects. Haydn also startles by dropping from B flat Major into g minor, its relative minor key, during the exposition section: The expected motion is to F Major. These tricks and exaggerations are written into the witty main subjects and become part of the structure of the development.

The second movement is practically a horn concerto movement. The symphony is scored for two oboes, two horns, and strings, with one or two bassoons doubling the basso continuo line; but Haydn calls for two different crooks for the horns: B flat alto and E flat. This allows him a wider choice of notes, and a wide range. The E flat horn reaches very low notes, while the high B flat horn has an extended top range. Haydn gives it a high B flat, considered the highest horn note in the symphonic repertory and a note rarely if ever demanded in the toughest horn concerto. The second movement gives the winds a break in its second section, as strings alone take over. In the movement's coda the texture reduces to a single violin line, then stops calmly.

The Minuet and Trio movement is also radical: The use of two trios is decidedly an innovation. It is here that Haydn makes his joke with the bass players. Haydn writes the same bass line for all three sections, but instructs the cellos and other bass line players to change to another of the three common clefs they uses, so that the same written notes yield different sounding notes each time through. The audience and other players are unaware of the joke. The first trio is for strings alone, but the second trio is another tour de force for the two horns. (It is here that the famous high B flat appears.)

The finale is a wide-ranging rondo. Each repeat of the main section in the tonic key is varied in melody, dynamics, and scoring. The first contrasting section has a lilting oboe theme in E flat; the second a suddenly angry outburst in g minor, marked double forte.

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