Symphony No. 98 (Haydn) of material from two works by Mozart, the Coronation Mass and Symphony No. 41 ("Jupiter"), and it was possibly intended by Haydn as a tribute to his friend and fellow-composer, who died in December 1791: Haydn was composing the symphony when he heard, and was greatly distressed by, the news of his friend's death. The movement's principal theme, introduced by the strings and marked "cantabile", is an almost exact quotation from "Agnus Dei" from Mozart's "Coronation Mass"; a resemblance to "God Save the King" has also been noted. The second theme is in the dominant (C major). The exposition is
Symphony No. 2 (Rachmaninoff) Rachmaninoff wrote not only his Second Symphony, but also the tone poem "Isle of the Dead". Rachmaninoff was not altogether convinced that he was a gifted symphonist. At its 1897 premiere, his Symphony No. 1 (conducted by Alexander Glazunov) was considered an utter disaster; criticism of it was so harsh that it sent the young composer into a bout of depression. Even after the success of his Piano Concerto No. 2 (which won the Glinka Award and 500 rubles in 1904), Rachmaninoff still lacked confidence in his writing. He was very unhappy with the first draft of his Second Symphony