Composition and Premiere
The composition date of 1764 appears on the autograph manuscript, which survives. Haydn composed the work during his tenure as Vice-Kapellmeister at the court of Prince Nicolaus Esterházy. As Vice-Kapellmeister Haydn was in charge of all but religious music in the Esterházy household; in particular he was the leader of the orchestra and was expected to compose symphonies for it to perform. This ensemble numbered about fifteen players. The intended audience (except on special occasions such as the Prince's name day) consisted only of the Prince and his guests; thus "very often Haydn's orchestra would have outnumbered the listeners." (Jones 1990:18).
Jones suggests that the first performance venue may have been what is today called the "Haydnsaal", a large hall at the family palace in Eisenstadt "having a very resonant acoustic". Other candidates were somewhat smaller halls in the other primary Esterházy palaces, at Vienna and Kittsee.
Read more about this topic: Symphony No. 22 (Haydn)
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