The Symphony No. 74 in E-flat major, Hoboken 1/74, is a symphony

Symphony

A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, scored almost always for orchestra. A symphony usually contains at least one movement or episode composed according to the sonata principle...

 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...

 composed in 1780

1780 in music

- Events :*Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart composes his opera Idomeneo at Munich.*The Danish national anthem, "Kong Kristian...", is first sung.*Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach's Versuch über die wahre Art das Clavier zu spielen goes into its third edition....

 or 1781

1781 in music

- Events :*March - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart moves to Vienna to pursue his career, but is passed over in favour of Antonio Salieri as music teacher of Princess of Württemberg....

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Movements

The symphony is 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, 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...

, two 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 ....

 and strings

String section

The string section is the largest body of the standard orchestra and consists of bowed string instruments of the violin family.It normally comprises five sections: the first violins, the second violins, the violas, the cellos, and the double basses...

. There are four movements:

1. Vivace assai
2. Adagio cantabile in B-flat major
3. Menuetto
   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...
   
    & Trio: Allegretto, 3/4
4. Finale: Allegro assai, 6/8

The first movement opens in standard Italian style with three loud chords followed by a quiet response. The second theme group is based on an inversion of the quiet response.

The second theme opens like a serenade with muted violins playing a melody over a guitar-like accompaniment in the cello. What follows is a set of three loosely structured variations

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:...

 which avoid the simple strophic pattern of previous sets by allowing the lead-ins and interludes to overlap and a coda

Coda (music)

Coda is a term used in music in a number of different senses, primarily to designate a passage that brings a piece to an end. Technically, it is an expanded cadence...

 which features a small fugato.

The minuet features Lombard rhythm

Lombard rhythm

The Lombard rhythm or Scotch snap is a rhythm associated primarily with Baroque music, generally consisting of a stressed sixteenth note or semiquaver followed by a dotted eighth note or quaver. This effects a reverse of the dotted rhythm normally used in notes inégales, in which the longer value...

s and the trio lets the first violin and the bassoon carry the melody.

The finale is gigue

Gigue

The gigue or giga is a lively baroque dance originating from the British jig. It was imported into France in the mid-17th century and usually appears at the end of a suite...

-like and in sonata form

Sonata form

Sonata form is a large-scale musical structure used widely since the middle of the 18th century . While it is typically used in the first movement of multi-movement pieces, it is sometimes used in subsequent movements as well—particularly the final movement...

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