Symphony No. 59 (Haydn)

59 in A major is a relatively early work by Joseph Haydn that is known popularly as the Fire Symphony.

[2] An extant manuscript of the symphony dating from Haydn's lifetime bears the title Feuer Sinfonia.

However, claims that symphony 59 originated first as theatre music are unproven, despite curiously theatrical elements such as the sudden horn fanfares towards the close of the second movement.

[3] The work is in standard four movement form and scored for two oboes, two horns, continuo (bassoon, harpsichord) and strings.

Haydn uses a similar horn call to start the finale of his 103rd symphony over twenty-five years later.

[5] Following a brief development, the return of the horn call is only hinted at in the strings in the start of the recapitulation which then follows in a relatively straightforward manner.