Symphony No. 22 (Haydn)

22 in E♭ major, Hoboken I/22, is a symphony written by Joseph Haydn in 1764, under the auspices of the benign Prince Nikolaus Esterházy.

As Vice-Kapellmeister Haydn was in charge of all but religious music in the Esterházy household; in particular he was the leader of the orchestra and was expected to compose symphonies for it to perform.

Jones suggests that the first performance venue may have been what is today called the "Haydnsaal", a large hall at the family palace in Eisenstadt "having a very resonant acoustic".

The title is thought to derive from the melody and counterpoint of the first movement (between the horns and cor anglais), which musically allude to a question followed by an answer and paralleling the disputatio system of debate.

[3] The use of the cor anglais in place of the (related, but higher-pitched) oboe is more than unusual; indeed McVeigh (2009:386) suggests that it is "the only symphony in the entire history of the genre to use this scoring".

The symphony is in four movements: This slow-fast-slow-fast sequence of tempos corresponds to the sonata da chiesa of the Baroque era, although the musical language of the piece is classical.

Later in Haydn's symphonic career, the same effect would be achieved by placing a light opening theme after a slow introduction.

As McVeigh notes, the opening theme of the third movement echoes that of the first, resembling an extended rendition of it in minuet tempo.