As with so many works in this part of the Haydn symphony numerical sequence, the date of composition for Haydn's Symphony No. 19 is conjectural. The suggestion that it belongs to the Morzin period may be attributed to its somewhat conventional style of utterance and its modest scoring, consisting of strings and horns. And there is also the suggestion of the Italian overture style in its two triple-time outer movements framing a slow minor-key movement, indicative of the early relationship of the symphony to the models from which it evolved. Yet there are a few novel procedural touches that render the work a puzzler.

The opening Allegro centers around a theme built on an arpeggiated triad which is combined with several contrasting motives. Horns punctuate the strings' progress in unfolding the sonata design; yet it is a mere tremolo figure that appears in a transition which dominates the development. The central movement is a canter in the tonic minor and is, despite this, curiously sunny in demeanor. The finale, a sprightly 3/8 presto, contains another novel touch. In the recapitulation, the major-key main theme reappears and vice versa the minor second theme. If this is indeed a Morzin-period work, it would seem that Haydn was chomping at the bit, strangely anticipatory of a future period of greater creative freedom.

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