ABSTRACT
Joseph Haydn's symphonies have so far been relatively poorly served by the expansion of the historical performance movement into the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Indeed, among professional Haydn scholars other than Landon there is a consensus that he normally did not employ a keyboard instrument. Musical practice in mid-18th-century Europe was extraordinarily variable—a variability which affected the continuo no less than any other aspect. In the absence of any evidence for Haydn's having produced his symphonies with a keyboard instrument, the primary historical justification for his use of it can only be a general belief that a continuo was more or less universal in 18th-century orchestral music. Insofar as the musical contents are concerned, Haydn's pre-London symphonies conform to the documentary and source evidence: nothing suggests the participation of a keyboard instrument. Equally subjective is the general notion of Haydn's immaturity and experimentation before the 'Sturm und Drang'.
