Haydn probably composed his Symphony no. 88 in G major in 1787, just one year after the six so-called Paris symphonies. It was written, together with its sister work, the F-major Symphony no. 89, for the violinist Johann Tost, who sold it to the Parisian publisher Sieber.

In both works, Haydn continues the compositional achievements of the Paris symphonies: mastery of orchestration, richness of musical ideas and details, and an idiosyncratic, multicoloured use of the wind section (which still...