The release of what is now the 19th volume of the complete recording of Haydn's symphonies coincides with the 40th anniversary of Il Giardino Armonico. The ensemble was founded by Giovanni Antonini, the artistic director of the HAYDN2032 series. Il Giardino made its name in the Baroque world with its revolutionary approach to Vivaldi's music, but Haydn has long been part of the Italian ensemble's history. Symphony No. 44 on this album was the first Haydn work performed by the ensemble under Antonini. The title of this symphony, known as the "Mourning Symphony," prompted the inclusion of Scheidt's Paduana Dolorosa, published in 1621 at the beginning of the bloody Thirty Years' War, and Arvo Pärt's Da pacem Domine, dedicated to the memory of the victims of the Madrid bombings in 2004, in this program: "Their contemplative steadfastness takes on an almost cathartic function, which in my view shows a perfect integration of music that is stylistically and chronologically so far apart," says Antonini, who has also recorded Symphonies No. 108 (1762) and No. 52 (1771) on this album.