Joseph Haydn
Symphony No. 44 in E minor, Hob 1/44 ~ Trauersinfonie
Allegro con brio 00:00
Menuetto: Allegretto 07:24
Adagio 11:22
Finale: Presto 17:00

Rias Sinfonieorchester
Ferenc Fricsay, conductor
1952 Live recording

Painting: Bartolomeo Montagna, Madonna and Child with Saints John the Baptist and Francis, 1485 Venice, Collezione Cini

The Symphony No. 44 was completed in 1772. It is popularly known as Trauer (English: Mourning). Late in life, Haydn asked for the slow movement of this symphony to be played at his funeral. [...]
The piece is typical of Haydn's Sturm und Drang (storm and stress) period. The first movement, which is in sonata form, begins with a four-note motif played in unison which occurs throughout the movement.
The second movement, unusually, is a minuet in E minor and trio in E major; thus the work is one of the few symphonies of the Classical era to place the Minuet second. The minuet is in the form of a "Canone in Diapason" between the upper and lower strings with the lower strings trailing the upper strings by a single bar. The third movement is slow, also in E major, and with strings muted. The finale, like the first movement, is in sonata form and is dominated by a figure which opens the movement in unison. It is quite contrapuntal, and ends in E minor rather than finishing in a major key as was usual in most other minor key works of the time.
Since all of the movements have the same tonic, the work is homotonal.
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