Symphony No.73 in D major, Hob. I:73 " La chasse (The Hunt)"

The finale of this symphony features hunting horn calls and its nickname reflects the popularity of the hunting trope in eighteenth century musical culture. This movement was originally composed as the overture to Haydn's opera La fedelt premiata (“Fidelity Rewarded”), a detail which has helped secure the dating of the symphony. The hunting melody of the finale is a quotation from La Chasse du cerf, a Divertissement for solo voices, chorus, and instrumental ensemble by the eighteenth century French composer Jean-Baptiste Morin. Morin himself drew upon the popular Sourcillade (or Vue) penned by André Danican Philidor in the first decade of the 18th century. Haydn's theme was therefore widely recognisable as a hunting motif.