Symphony No. 31 (Haydn)

[2] Prince Nikolaus brought the horn section back to full strength in May 1765,[3] when hornists Franz Stamitz and Joseph Dietzl were engaged to fill the missing places.

[7] The orchestra was very small, with perhaps three each for first and second violins, one violist, one cellist, and one bass player; but in compensation the hall would have been quite reverberant[8]—the basis of a sonically impressive effect when the (not entirely refined, valveless) horns of the day were played in a group of four.

[9] According to James Webster, "the audience would have consisted of the prince and his guests only and very often Haydn's orchestra of fifteen or so players would have outnumbered the listeners.

(This deliberate imbalance of sonority is often regularized in modern performances by increasing the number of strings or by telling the horn players to play down.

[13] The slow movement has a siciliano rhythm and feel with solo passages for violin and cello against pizzicato bass accompaniment.

Full orchestration (including all four horns) is retained for tutti passages, recalling the style of a concerto grosso.

[14] Most of the variations are written to show off a particular instrument or section of the orchestra, in the following order: oboes, cello, flute, horns, solo violin, tutti (all players), and double bass.

Webster calls the symphony "a splendidly ostentatious work, displaying the prowess of the horn players to maximum effect in all four movements.