The Symphony No. 84 in E-flat major, Hoboken I/84, is the third of the so-called six Paris Symphonies

Paris symphonies

The Paris Symphonies are a group of six symphonies written by Joseph Haydn and performed at the Concert Spirituel, the Concert de la Loge Olympique and the Concert de Amateurs in Paris.-The Symphonies:...

 (numbers 82-87) written by Joseph Haydn

Joseph Haydn

Franz Joseph Haydn , known as Joseph Haydn , was an Austrian composer, one of the most prolific and prominent composers of the Classical period. He is often called the "Father of the Symphony" and "Father of the String Quartet" because of his important contributions to these forms...

. It is sometimes known by the subtitle In nomine Domini.

Background

The symphony was one of a series of six symphonies commissioned in 1784 by the Concerts de la Loge Olympique, a popular concert subscription in Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

 (hence the name for the series as a whole). Like the other Paris symphonies, Symphony no. 84 was written for the largest orchestral ensemble that Haydn had written for up until that time, including reinforced woodwind parts and a large string section. Unlike the other Paris symphonies (save No. 87), in No. 84 greater "prominence [is] given to woodwind instruments." Despite its number, the symphony was actually one of the last of the six Paris symphonies to be composed. It was completed in 1786.

Movements

The work is in standard four movement form and scored for flute

Flute

The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...

, two oboe

Oboe

The oboe is a double reed musical instrument of the woodwind family. In English, prior to 1770, the instrument was called "hautbois" , "hoboy", or "French hoboy". The spelling "oboe" was adopted into English ca...

s, two bassoon

Bassoon

The bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family that typically plays music written in the bass and tenor registers, and occasionally higher. Appearing in its modern form in the 19th century, the bassoon figures prominently in orchestral, concert band and chamber music literature...

s, horns

Horn (instrument)

The horn is a brass instrument consisting of about of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. A musician who plays the horn is called a horn player ....

, timpani

Timpani

Timpani, or kettledrums, are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum, they consist of a skin called a head stretched over a large bowl traditionally made of copper. They are played by striking the head with a specialized drum stick called a timpani stick or timpani mallet...

, continuo

Figured bass

Figured bass, or thoroughbass, is a kind of integer musical notation used to indicate intervals, chords, and non-chord tones, in relation to a bass note...

 (harpsichord

Harpsichord

A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It produces sound by plucking a string when a key is pressed.In the narrow sense, "harpsichord" designates only the large wing-shaped instruments in which the strings are perpendicular to the keyboard...

) and strings

String instrument

A string instrument is a musical instrument that produces sound by means of vibrating strings. In the Hornbostel-Sachs scheme of musical instrument classification, used in organology, they are called chordophones...

.

1. Largo - Allegro
2. Andante, 6/8 in B flat major
   B flat major
   B major or B-flat major is a major scale based on B-flat, consisting of the pitches B, C, D, E, F, G, and A. Its key signature has two flats, B/E .Its relative minor is G minor, and its parallel minor is B minor....
   
   
3. Menuet
   Minuet
   A minuet, also spelled menuet, is a social dance of French origin for two people, usually in 3/4 time. The word was adapted from Italian minuetto and French menuet, and may have been from French menu meaning slender, small, referring to the very small steps, or from the early 17th-century popular...
   
    e Trio
   Trio (music)
   Trio is generally used in any of the following ways:* A group of three musicians playing the same or different musical instrument.* The performance of a piece of music by three people.* The contrasting section of a piece in ternary form...
   
   , 3/4
4. Finale: Vivace

The slow second movement is a hybrid between ternary

Ternary form

Ternary form, sometimes called song form, is a three-part musical form, usually schematicized as A-B-A. The first and third parts are musically identical, or very nearly so, while the second part in some way provides a contrast with them...

 and variation

Variation (music)

In music, variation is a formal technique where material is repeated in an altered form. The changes may involve harmony, melody, counterpoint, rhythm, timbre, orchestration or any combination of these.-Variation form:...

 form. The main theme is similar in shape the introduction to the first movement. After the theme is stated, there is a contrasting passage in the minor which is only loosely based melodically on the main theme. Then two more strophic variations follow, the first lyrical and the second more grand. The movement then segues to a cadenza

Cadenza

In music, a cadenza is, generically, an improvised or written-out ornamental passage played or sung by a soloist or soloists, usually in a "free" rhythmic style, and often allowing for virtuosic display....

 passage that features the full wind band over pizzicato

Pizzicato

Pizzicato is a playing technique that involves plucking the strings of a string instrument. The exact technique varies somewhat depending on the type of stringed instrument....

strings before the full tutti concludes the movement with one last statement of the theme.