After dark string sonorities reminiscent of Sturm und Drang in the slow introduction, the Allegro begins with a very light galante theme which is interrupted periodically by more darkly colored strings. The transitional material is notable for its use of counterpoint.[1]
The slow second movement is a theme with four variations and a coda. The second variation features a flute and bassoon duet over thirty-second notes and pizzicato bass. Triplet-sixteenths dominate the third variation. As usual, the final variation is recapitulatory, but here Haydn extends the variation with further development and a cadenza-like passage.[1]
The trio of the minuet features solo sections for two violins against a pizzicato bass.[1]
Notes
^ abcBrown, A. Peter, The Symphonic Repertoire (Volume 2). Indiana University Press (ISBN025333487X), pp. 175–176 (2002).
References
Haydn: Chronicle and Works, 5 vols, (Bloomington and London: Indiana University Press, 1976-) v. 2, Haydn at Eszterhaza, 1766-1790
Oxford Composer Companions: Haydn, ed. David Wyn Jones, Oxford University Press, 2002. ISBN0-19-866216-5