Symphony No. 44 (Haydn)

The Symphony No. 44 in E minor by Joseph Haydn was written sometime around 1770. It has the nickname Trauer (Mourning) apparently because late in life Haydn asked for its slow movement to be played at his funeral.

The work is in four movements:

1. Allegro con brio
2. Menuetto: Allegretto
3. Adagio
4. Finale: Presto

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 (this movement would normally come third). The minuet is in the form of a canon between the upper and lower strings.

The third movement is slow, also in E major, and with strings mutedd. 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 (including Haydn's next symphony, the Symphony No. 45, The Farewell).