Symphony No.26 in D minor, Hob. I:26 "Lamentatione"

Haydn wrote the symphony for Easter week. H. C. Robbins Landon has dated it to 1768 (possibly 1769). In the absence of the original autograph, it is impossible to verify the date of composition although this dating is consistent with the work's appearance in the Entwurf Katalog (Haydn's own catalogue of his works). An earlier tradition suggested the symphony had been written for Christmas (at the time a much less significant religious holiday), but the oldest original extant manuscript indicates clearly that the symphony was indeed intended for Easter celebrations.