I know that God has bestowed a talent upon me, and I thank Him for it. I think I have done my duty and been of use in my generation by my works. Let others do the same. —Haydn

Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809) was born in the Austrian town of Rohrau, and in 1761, after a conspicuously ordinary early life, was engaged as vice-Kapellmeister by Prince Paul Esterházy, a Hungarian nobleman. He remained exclusively in that family’s employment for the next thirty years, working for Prince Paul and then for his son Nikolaus. Unlike Mozart, whose relationships with his patrons were neither easy nor consistent, Haydn lived happily within the confines of his master’s world and benefited enormously from seclusion and from having a permanent orchestra with which to work. Haydn later remarked, “There was no one there to confuse me, so I was forced to become original.” In 1790, Nikolaus died and the court musicians were dismissed by his successor. Haydn moved to Vienna, but shortly afterward received an invitation to visit England, where he proved incredibly successful in 1791-92. Oxford University even gave Haydn an honorary degree. Having returned from London, he bought a house in Vienna where he taught Beethoven and others, but in 1794 he returned to England, this time with even more success. He returned to Europe again in 1795, returning to employment with the Esterházy family and concentrating all of his time on composing. His health began to fail in 1802, and after a long struggle, Haydn died in 1809. In some ways, Haydn was more radical than Mozart, experimenting with unusual-length phrases and using unconventional forms in his symphonies. Above all, Haydn is the most humane and comforting of composers. In his own words, he wrote music so that “the weary and worn, or the man burdened with affairs, may enjoy a few moments of solace and refreshment.”
It was during Haydn’s London years, while he was writing his greatest symphonies, that the Sinfonia Concertante in B-Flat Major, Hob.I:105 was first heard at a concert on March 9, 1792, at the Hanover Square Rooms. Haydn's pupil Ignace Joseph Pleyel had been engaged by William Cramer to lead a rival series of concerts in London, also at the Hanover Square Rooms, and provided works in this unusual but popular form. This probably prompted Johann Salomon, the impresario who had brought Haydn to London, to ask Haydn to write something of the same kind. Haydn's new concerto for violin, cello, oboe and bassoon was premiered with Salomon playing the violin solo. Declared by the Morning Herald as “profound, airy, affecting and original,” the piece would nonetheless fall into obscurity until the renewed interest in Haydn’s music after World War II. The work is a masterpiece of its genre, with graceful melodies, brilliant orchestration, and a well-balanced dialogue between the four soloists and the ensemble.