Cocktail Party Fact: This is the fourth of the twelve so-called “London Symphonies” in the standard numbering, but it was actually the first to be composed and performed. The nickname derives from a real event: during a performance the chandelier in the middle of the hall crashed to the ground, but–a miracle–no one was injured due to the fact that the audience had pressed forward to hear the music better. The only catch is that this happened during a performance of a different symphony (!), No. 102. How the nickname got stuck here is anyone’s guess.

Commitment Factor: 20 - 25 minutes

Vital Statistics: Classical Period (1791). A four-movement symphony with slow introduction–this was to be the pattern for all of Haydn’s “London Symphonies” with the single exception of No. 95.

What to Listen For: One of the most remarkable things about these symphonies is Haydn’s very free use of the woodwind section (especially in the slow movement of this symphony). Haydn’s symphonies are genuinely democratic in their treatment of the whole orchestra–every part is important, and everyone gets a solo. But it all has a dramatic point, too: listen, at the very end of the first movement, to the warlike solo fanfares for trumpets, timpani, and horns. It’s a star turn for the brass and percussion, but also the emotional climax of the movement.