... is so named because during the final adagio, each musician in turn stops playing, snuffs out the candle on his music stand, and leaves. At the end, there are just two muted violins left; at the first performance in 1772, these were played by Haydn himself and his concertmaster, Luigi Tomasini.
Wikipedia explains that there was a good reason for this ending: "At that time, Haydn's patron Nikolaus I, Prince Esterházy was resident, together with all his musicians and retinue, at his favorite summer palace at Eszterháza in rural Hungary. The stay there had been longer than expected, and most of the musicians had been forced to leave their wives back at home in Eisenstadt, about a day's journey away. Longing to return, the musicians appealed to their Kapellmeister [Haydn] for help. The diplomatic Haydn, instead of making a direct appeal, put his request into the music of the symphony.
"Esterházy seems to have understood the message: the court returned to Eisenstadt [on] the day following the performance."
© Haydn Thompson 2021