The trilogy of Haydn's Symphonies No. 76, No. 77, and No. 78 were to accompany a visit to England, a function that was not realized. However, these three works form a fascinatingly varied triumvirate. Following the leisurely 76 and the idiosyncratic 77, No. 78 is a somber, haunting C minor essay. Indeed, one must go back to the "Trauer" symphony to find the composer plumbing such emotional depths. It represents the more dramatic facet of what Robbins Landon describes as Haydn's "intellectual" style common to all three works, in which structural and emotional values are thoroughly integrated.

Even though the first movement commences vivace, the overall mood is stern rather than festive, the coloration of the lower-crooked horns enhancing this feel. Yet it avoids outright pathos. Stoic more than tragic, periodic beams of major lighten the overcast terrain, rendering this movement a spiritual forebear of Brahms' Symphony No. 4. The bronzed tone of the horns is a dominant feature in the adagio, which continues the mood of reverie. Some relief comes with the pastoral minuet, leisurely and swinging, and the bagpipe-influenced trio. The autumnal nature reemerges in the minor-key finale with even the blended orchestration grayish save for the occasional coloration of the flute. Haydn was, after all, in mid-life, a time given to reflection, albeit temporary. In later years, his symphonies would assume the humor and vigor of a man half his age.

© All Music Guide