Symphony No. 98 (Haydn)

98 in B♭ major, Hoboken I/98, is the sixth of the twelve London symphonies (numbers 93–104) composed by Joseph Haydn.

At the time, Haydn was in the midst of the first of his two visits to London, under contract to perform a series of new symphonies with an orchestra led by Johann Peter Salomon as concertmaster.

The symphony was performed on 2 March 1792 at the Hanover Square Rooms, with Haydn directing the orchestra from the keyboard.

[2] The work is scored for one flute, two oboes, two bassoons, two horns, two trumpets, timpani, strings and cembalo.

The cembalo part is only scored for a brief solo in the fourth movement, but Haydn would have conducted the premiere sitting at the keyboard and probably used it in a continuo role throughout the whole of the symphony.

The movement, solemn and hymn-like, makes noticeable use of material from two works by Mozart, the Coronation Mass and Symphony No.

[6][10][11][12] The movement's principal theme, introduced by the strings and marked "cantabile", is an almost exact quotation from Agnus Dei from Mozart's Coronation Mass; a resemblance to "God Save the King" has also been noted.

[16] The chromaticism accompanying the final statement of the theme was omitted from published editions of the symphony until the 1950s, when H. C. Robbins Landon restored Haydn's original score.

The development contains modulations through a wide range of keys and prominent solos for the principal violin who, in the premiere performance, was Johann Peter Salomon.

After the recapitulation there is a lengthy coda, in which Haydn slows the tempo to "piu moderato" but then introduces sixteenth notes to give the movement a new momentum.

But the composer and organist Samuel Wesley, who was at the 1792 premiere, recollected that Haydn had executed the keyboard solo proficiently: A typical performance of the symphony lasts about 26 minutes.