Hyperion Records

Symphony No 15 is one of the most interesting works from this period. Its first movement is unusually in the style of a French overture, a form marked by its A–B–A, slow–fast– slow structure with, here, extensive Adagio sections framing a lively Presto. The second movement also has a French character to it, particularly in the dotted rhythms of the main Minuet section. The finale is again a Presto and shows Haydn’s nascent mastery of instrumentation and formal ingenuity.

from notes by Matthew Rye © 1993