Sometimes referred to as the "Partita in B flat," Haydn's Symphony No. 108 was, despite its numeration, a work of his early years. It is one of a handful of works for which the Hoboken catalog retained the Mandyczewski numbering. Precious little is known of the somewhat conventional but charming little work. Haydn scholar H.C. Robbins Landon cautiously suggested that, counted as a symphony, the B flat work would be roughly sixth in chronological line of creation.

In its trimly cut proportions, the B flat work, in four movements, is a sonatina among symphonies. The first movement is monothematic—its winsome theme is derived from a series of trills, and the development of the tiny movement is a study in economy. Unusual for its time, the minuet is placed second in order, the dotted upbeat of its main theme providing a little piquancy; its trio theme is shadowed by the bassoon. The G minor andante, highly contrapuntal in texture, is a brooding (but not morose) moment of repose. The ultra-brief yet appropriately scaled finale is bustling, laughter suggested by the cascades of reiterated-note figures. Like the opening movement it is essentially monothematic and seems to have had its say in the blink of an eye.

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