Haydn's Symphony No. 21 is readily datable as having been composed in 1764, by which time he was a fixture in the Esterházy court. By now the composer was reveling in what had become his standard orchestra of double oboes and horns, bassoon, and strings. The current work, in church sonata form, also shows Haydn experimenting with the nature and sequence of the movements.

In lieu of a rhythmic vivacious opening movement, No. 21 commences with an emotive and dignified felt adagio carried along by pulsing reiterated notes in the accompaniment, suggestive of Handel in his nobility. The central section features some unpredictable chromatic turns. By contrast, the following movement is a breakneck presto which is usually encountered as a finale, here fleshed out to accommodate the sonata process. Again reiterated notes are a prominent feature in what is virtually a perpetuum mobile. While the following minuet is in the old courtly style, it is amusing to note the distaste with which critics greeted it; the octave doublings of the main theme were considered vulgar and likened to the unison singing of father and son beggars. The finale is much in the same vein as the presto, bustling and breathless and bright. So many ideas cram each subject that the impression of a constant spontaneous "fortspinnung" is conveyed. Most striking is the note-for-note interplay of the first and second violins in the first subject; in live performance with these groups divided, the effect must surely be electric.

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