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. 41 (Mozart) possessed to the same degree with himself, of concealing that science, and making it the vehicle for music as pleasing as it is learned. Nowhere has he achieved more." Of the piece as a whole, he wrote that "It is the greatest orchestral work of the world which preceded the French Revolution." The four-note theme is a common plainchant motif which can be traced back at least as far as Josquin des Prez's "Missa Pange lingua" from the 16th century. It was very popular with Mozart. It makes a brief appearance as early as his Symphony No. 1 in 1764.