Answer:
The nickname "Military" derives from the second movement (and the end of the finale), which features prominent fanfares written for C-trumpets and percussion effects. One reviewer wrote after the premiere that the second movement evoked the "hellish roar of war increas[ing] to a climax of horrid sublimity!"
Martial music or military music is a specific genre of music intended for use in military settings performed by professional soldiers called field musicians.
The Symphony opens with an imposing slow introduction; the spirited Allegro that follows (beginning with a solo flute and the oboes) is tautly constructed in Haydn's usual matter. Rather than introducing two sharply contrasted themes in the typical manner of the symphonies of his age, Haydn instead offers a selection of brief, tightly interconnected motives that form the basis of the movement.
Haydn holds his percussion in reserve until the second movement, the "Militaire Movement." The main theme, folk-like in its simplicity and steady in its march rhythm, comes from a duet for two liras (an instrument similar to a hurdy-gurdy) Haydn had penned a few years earlier. A review of the symphony from a London newspaper described the progress of the movement: "It is the advancing to battle; and the march of men, the sounding of the charge, the thundering of the onset, the clash of arms, the groans of the wounded, and what may well be called the hellish roar of war increase to a climax of horrid sublimity! which, if others can conceive, he alone can execute; at least he alone hitherto has affected these wonders." The vivid pictorial quality of the movement was indeed original, at least in the context of the classical symphony (earlier composers had used battle as an inspiration), and it was a coup that secured the "Military" Symphony's place as the most popular among its 100-plus brethren.
The third movement is a minuet, a courtly dance with a stately triple rhythm, the standard for the 18th-century symphony. The movement's outer sections employ the full orchestra, giving them a sense of grandeur and occasion, while the central section relies mostly on the textures of solo winds and gentle, quiet violins, although even here there is a momentary military outburst. The Presto finale rushes by like an unstoppable perpetual motion machine. In a stroke of genius, Haydn brings back his Turkish percussion during the movement's closing moments, creating a sense of balance between the finale and the first two movements and bringing things to a exhilarating conclusion.
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