For 40 years, musical semiotics has set up two essential aspects within musical works: the presence of narrative structures and existential dimensions. These theoretical advances have taken into account the presence of topics and the role of the performers. These new approaches have completely renewed the study of the work of numerous composers, including that of W. A. ​​Mozart. They showed the presence of narrative strategies. Yet, what roles do the contexts of creation, performance, dissemination and reception play in musical meaning? Using the example of the ‘Haffner’ Symphony, one can identify another type of narrative, of a sociological nature, within the musical works. In July 1782 Haffner, mayor of Salzburg, commissioned a serenade from Mozart to celebrate his ennoblement. Then established in Vienna, the composer did not respect the wishes of the sponsor. He sent him a symphony. The analysis of its movements naturally reveals the presence of topics from the classical period. The structure of the work and its intertextual relationship with an aria from the opera Die Entführung aus dem Serail, composed at the same time, reveals a social critique of the Salzburg world and a political manifesto, seven years before the start of the French Revolution. The sociological context therefore proves to be decisive here. It allows us to propose a theoretical approach taking into account the knowledge of musical semiotics and sociology.