The second 'A' section finishes suspended on a cadential six-four chord. The central 'B' section of the movement is for full tutti in G minor and is highly contrapuntal. The slow movement in G major is in ternary form (A–B–A) featuring a lightly scored, lilting theme with three upbeats. Following another transition, the fanfares from the first theme group return building up to an unexpected stormy climax in D minor leaving just seven measures of D major to bring the movement to a close. When the recapitulation arrives, it proceeds quickly. Following a two-measure grand pause, the third section opens with a false recapitulation of the exposition in the wrong key of G major which quickly collapses into more development of the first theme. Both of these sections touch on the relative minor, B minor. The first section develops the exposition's first theme and the second develops themes from the exposition's coda. The development can be divided into three sections. The expositional coda also features motifs containing three eighth notes. There is no true second theme group making this a three-key exposition. What follows is a more extended transition featuring three repeated eighth-notes as in the opening of the Allegro. The first theme group closes with fanfares featuring repeated notes.

Following a brief transitional section, the first theme returns giving the opening section a ternary structure. Following a slow introduction, the first theme of the exposition is actually two overlapping themes, a short–short–short–long repeated-note theme in the first violins over a falling motif in the middle strings and bassoons. The work is in standard four movement form and scored for two flutes, two oboes, two bassoons, two horns, two trumpets, timpani and strings. More careful and recent research suggests that this event actually took place during the 1795 premiere of his Symphony No. The audience managed to dodge the chandelier successfully as they had all crowded to the front for the post-performance applause, and the symphony got its nickname from this. 96 has been called the Miracle symphony due to the story that, during its premiere, a chandelier fell from the ceiling of the concert hall in which it was performed.

Haydn symphony 96