Despite its fairly advanced numbering, Haydn's Symphony No. 37 in C major is generally considered to be a much earlier work, most likely from the composer's Lukavec period. There was some debate as to whether the work had come from Haydn's pen but certain fingerprints are so distinctive that the point is no longer debated.

The later date affixed to No. 37 may be attributed to the addition of timpani and trumpet parts which surely would have been absent in resources available to Haydn at Lukavec. These instruments bolster the grandiloquent opening, at once stately and archaic. However, the commencement of the main subject in the dominant and the subsequent modulation to a remote minor key belie the fresh concepts of the young composer. The minuet is placed second in order and, owing to the brass and percussion, echoes the festivity of the Rococo ballroom rather than a country dance. The andante and finale are examples of their period, the latter in the old 3/8 presto idiom. There is, admittedly, a somewhat dry feel to the last movement which is atypical, for even when Haydn is going "by the book," a certain spirit and energy which carries the music through.

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