Cocktail Party Fact: This score exists only as a single autograph copy because it was written for very special circumstances: the invention of a trumpet that could play notes in any key. The instrument was a failure, but the music, fortunately survived. It is Haydn’s very last purely orchestral work.
Commitment Factor: About 17 minutes
Vital Statistics: [...]

Cocktail Party Fact: This is the seventh of the so-called “London Symphonies,” and the first to be written for Haydn’s second visit to London.
Commitment Factor: About 25 minutes
Vital Statistics: Classical Period (1794). A warm, gracious four-movement symphony with slow introduction.
What to Listen For: With this symphony, the basic classical orchestra is established in its [...]

Cocktail Party Fact: This is the sixth of the so-called “London Symphonies.” Mozart died while Haydn was in England, and when the news reached him, he was inconsolable. Haydn was virtually alone in considering Mozart to be the greatest composer alive, though history was to prove his judgment sound. The slow movement of this symphony, [...]

Cocktail Party Fact: This is the fifth of the so-called “London Symphonies,” and the very last in Haydn’s “ceremonial” key of C major.
Commitment Factor: 20 - 25 minutes
Vital Statistics: Classical Period (1791). A four-movement symphony with slow introduction. The slow movement is a fascinating Theme and Variations with an orchestral surprise: the violins have a [...]

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 [...]

Cocktail Party Fact: This is the third of the so-called “London Symphonies,” and the only one without a slow introduction.
Commitment Factor: 20 - 25 minutes
Vital Statistics: Classical Period (1791). A somewhat stern, four-movement symphony, full of inventive counterpoint (especially in the finale).
What to Listen For: This is the only “London” symphony in a minor key, [...]

Cocktail Party Fact: This is the second of the so-called “London Symphonies.” The nickname comes from the loud bang at the quietest movement of the second movement–at which Haydn said all the ladies would scream. It was, apparently, an afterthought.
Commitment Factor: 20 - 25 minutes
Vital Statistics: Classical Period (1791). A four-movement symphony with Haydn’s by [...]

Cocktail Party Fact: This is the first of the so-called “London Symphonies” in the regular numbering, though it was not the first of the twelve symphonies Haydn composed for London in actual order of composition–that was No. 96.
Commitment Factor: 20 - 25 minutes
Vital Statistics: Classical Period (1791). A grand, four-movement symphony with trumpets and drums. [...]

Cocktail Party Fact: This symphony got its nickname because it was played at ceremonies at Oxford, England, at which Haydn received an honorary doctorate.
Commitment Factor: 20 - 25 minutes
Vital Statistics: Classical Period (1788). One of Haydn’s most brilliant and popular symphonies–in four movements, with a slow introduction.
What to Listen For: This piece is full [...]

Cocktail Party Fact: This symphony used to have a nickname: “The Letter V.” No one remembers what this means or how it got there. Brahms was said to have exclaimed over the second movement: “I want my Tenth Symphony to sound like that!”
Commitment Factor: 20 - 25 minutes
Vital Statistics: Classical Period (1787). A lively, [...]