The exact date of composition is uncertain, but it predates 1778, as one of the manuscript copies bears a date of transcription. Some theories, based on stylistic analysis, estimate it to be a work from the early 1770s, but this is not definitive. The first edition was published by Beardmore & Birchall in London. It was published as a collection between 1783 and the following year, in the order of Hob. XVI: 43, 33, and 34. However, given that it is unlikely these works were originally composed as a cohesive set, this publication is believed to have occurred without the composer's knowledge.

First Movement

Allegro, D major, 2/4 time. Sonata form.

A movement that unfolds brightly and light-heartedly. The ornamental ascending thirty-second note arpeggios appearing at the beginning of both the first and second themes are characteristic, but there is little developmental motion.

Second Movement

Adagio, D minor, 3/4 time. Sonata form.

In contrast to the first theme's deep, sigh-like descending sixth (D minor), the second theme features light, descending sextuplets (F major). In the F major development section, perhaps because the emotional quality of the first theme does not fully emerge, it is presented for only two measures before quickly transitioning to material from the second theme. Nevertheless, the development section returns to the tonic key after only eight measures, and a developmental recapitulation begins. The movement concludes, leading seamlessly into the third movement, though without an explicit "attacca" instruction.

Third Movement

Tempo di Menuetto, D major, 3/4 time.

A variation on a light minuet theme. The whole is divided into three sections: 8x4, 8x4, and 16+8 measures, with distinct melodic and rhythmic characteristics in each section. The supporting left hand repeats the four patterns presented in the first section in the second section as well. The third section concludes with a variation of arpeggiated figures played by both hands in the final eight measures.