Haydn – Symphony n.44

Haydn's symphony 44  is known as Trauer (Mourning). An apocryphal story relates that Haydn asked for the slow movement of this symphony to be played at his funeral.

This symphony was composed in 1772 and is typical of Haydn's Sturm und Drang (storm and stress) period. The Sturm und Drang was a pre-Romantic movement in German literature and music between the late 1760s and early 1780s. It was characterized by extremes of emotions in reaction to the rationalism imposed by the Age of Enlightenment.