haydn was working for prince nikolaus i, prince esterházy when he wrote the symphony. he stayed in eszterháza, a palace in hungary. often, he had to stay there for a long time. the musicians who worked the prince wanted to go home. they wanted to see their families. they asked haydn to help them. so, haydn wrote the "farewell" symphony. in the fourth movement, the musicians blew out a candle and left one by one. in the end, only haydn and luigi tomasini stayed. they played the violin. this was meant to be a message to the prince. the musicians wanted to leave. the prince understood the message. so, they left eszterháza the next day.