Cocktail Party Fact: This is the second of the so-called “Paris” Symphonies, written specifically for a concert series in the French capital. The title comes from the “clucking” sound of the first movements second theme. You can’t miss it.
Commitment Factor: 20 - 25 minutes
Vital Statistics: Classical Period (1786). A four-movement symphony with an almost [...]

Cocktail Party Fact: This is the first of the so-called “Paris” Symphonies, written specifically for a concert series in the French capital. The title (which is not Haydn’s–none of them are) was inspired by the finale, which reminded someone at some point of a dancing bear.
Commitment Factor: 20 - 25 minutes
Vital Statistics: Classical Period (1786). [...]

Cocktail Party Fact: This symphony comes with a story. Haydn’s patron, Prince Nicholas Esterhazy, built a huge palace for himself out on a Hungarian swamp. He loved it there–but he was the only one. Each year he spent more time at Esterhaza (as it was called), while his musicians suffered. You see, they had to [...]

Cocktail Party Fact: Haydn asked that the slow third movement of this symphony be performed at his funeral–hence the nickname.
Commitment Factor: 20 - 25 minutes
Vital Statistics: Classical Period (1771). This is a standard, four-movement symphony composed during a time when the standard, four-movement symphony was anything but–it was in fact Haydn’s invention. Aside from the [...]

Cocktail Party Fact: This symphony has a companion, No. 72, which was actually written a bit earlier, and somehow got badly misplaced in the original chronology.
Commitment Factor: 20 - 25 minutes
Vital Statistics: Classical Period (1765). A four-movement symphony with spectacular solos for a quartet of horns. The finale is a Theme and Variations in which [...]

Cocktail Party Fact: “The twelfth that I have composed in England” Haydn wrote on the manuscript score–it was to be his last symphony, though he had another decade of productivity ahead of him. Taken as a whole, Haydn’s 106 symphonies represent a body of work unsurpassed in both quality and quantity in the history of [...]

Cocktail Party Fact: This is the eleventh of the so-called “London Symphonies.” The nickname comes from the very opening of the symphony, and is self-explanatory.
Commitment Factor: About 25 minutes
Vital Statistics: Classical Period (1794). A four-movement symphony with a very creepy, slow introduction.
What to Listen For: That slow introduction dominated the first movement: it appears at [...]

Cocktail Party Fact: This is the tenth of the so-called “London Symphonies,” and it should have gotten the nickname “The Miracle,” instead of No. 96–take a look at my notes to that symphony to find out why.
Commitment Factor: About 25 minutes
Vital Statistics: Classical Period (1794). A grand, four-movement symphony with a solemn, slow introduction.
What to [...]

Cocktail Party Fact: This is the ninth of the so-called “London Symphonies.” The nickname comes from the “tic toc” accompaniment to the slow movement’s main theme.
Commitment Factor: About 25 minutes
Vital Statistics: Classical Period (1794). A brilliant, four-movement symphony with slow introduction.
What to Listen For: There are few greater testaments to Haydn’s genius than the fact [...]

Cocktail Party Fact: This is the eighth of the so-called “London Symphonies,” and the most popular after the “Surprise” Symphony (No. 94). The second movement was the smash hit of Haydn’s second season. It is the first symphony ever to use extra percussion (bass drum, cymbals, and triangle)–a lesson not lost on Beethoven in his [...]