The Hungarian Esterházy royal family was a leading patron of the arts in the eighteenth century and Joseph Haydn spent much of his career at the family’s remote estate as a court musician. He wrote a vast number of compositions, including many symphonies and string quartets and he is sometimes referred to as the ‘Father of the Symphony’.

One of the most beautiful symphonies of the period is Symphony No. 59 (the Fire Symphony). The nickname almost certainly derives from the use of several movements as accompanying music to a performance of the play Die Feuersbrunst by Gustav Friedrich Wilhelm Großmann.

Mozart was Haydn’s junior by 24 years and both were prolific composers. They admired each other’s work and a close friendship ensued in 1780s Vienna. Mozart was often commissioned to write for wealthy noblemen and many of these pieces were intended to be performed by the person themselves. Mozart then tailored the composition to the instrument and competence of the performer. At the age of 22 he wrote this wonderful concerto in 1878 for a French Count, a flautist and his daughter, a harpist.