The Symphony No. 94 in
G major
G major is a major scale based on G (musical note), G, with the pitches G, A (musical note), A, B (musical note), B, C (musical note), C, D (musical note), D, E (musical note), E, and F♯ (musical note), F. Its key signature has one sharp (music ...
(
H. 1/94) is the second of the twelve
London symphonies written by
Joseph Haydn. It is popularly known as the Surprise Symphony.
Composition and premiere
Haydn wrote the
symphony in
1791 in London for a concert series he gave during the first of his visits to England (1791–1792). The premiere took place at the
Hanover Square Rooms in London on March 23, 1792, with Haydn leading the orchestra seated at a
fortepiano.
Scoring and length
The Surprise Symphony is scored for a
Classical-era orchestra consisting of two each of
flutes,
oboe
The oboe ( ) is a type of double-reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites.
The most common type of oboe, the soprano oboe pitched in C, ...
s,
bassoons,
horns,
trumpets, plus
timpani, and the usual
string section consisting of
violin
The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...
s (first and second),
violas,
cello
The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...
s, and
double bass
The double bass (), also known as the upright bass, the acoustic bass, the bull fiddle, or simply the bass, is the largest and lowest-pitched string instrument, chordophone in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding rare additions ...
es. Performances of the Surprise Symphony last about 23 minutes.
Nickname
In Haydn's old age, his biographer
Georg August Griesinger asked him whether he wrote this "surprise" to awaken the audience. Haydn replied:
No, but I was interested in surprising the public with something new, and in making a brilliant debut, so that my student Pleyel, who was at that time engaged by an orchestra in London (in 1792) and whose concerts had opened a week before mine, should not outdo me. The first Allegro of my symphony had already met with countless Bravos, but the enthusiasm reached its highest peak at the Andante with the Drum Stroke. Encore! Encore! sounded in every throat, and Pleyel himself complimented me on my idea.
The work was popular at its premiere. The ''
Woodfall's Register'' critic wrote:
The third piece of Haydn was a new Overture .e. symphony of very extraordinary merit. It was simple, profound, and sublime. The ''andante'' movement was particularly admired.
The ''
Morning Herald'' critic wrote:
The Room was crowded last night... A new composition from such a man as Haydn is a great event in the history of music. – His novelty of last night was a grand Overture, the subject of which was remarkably simple, but extended to vast complication, exquisitly modulated and striking in effect. Critical applause was fervid and abundant.
The symphony is still popular today, and is frequently performed and recorded.
Structure
Like all of Haydn's "London" symphonies, the work is in four movements, marked as follows:
The first movement has a lyrical introduction preceding a highly rhythmic main section in time.
The second, "surprise", movement, is an andante
theme and variations in time in the
subdominant key of
C major. The theme is in two eight-bar sections, each repeated. The repeat at the end of the first section is ''pianissimo'' with
pizzicato in the lower strings to set up the surprise. Four variations of the theme follow, starting with embellishment in sixteenth notes by the first violins, moving to a stormy variation in
C minor with trumpets and timpani, followed by solos for the first
oboist and
flautist, and concluding with a sweeping and lyrical ''forte'' repeat in triplets. In the
coda section, the opening notes are stated once more, this time reharmonized with gently dissonant
diminished seventh chords over a tonic
pedal.
Haydn's music contains many jokes, and the Surprise Symphony includes probably the most famous of all: a sudden
fortissimo chord at the end of the otherwise
piano
A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...
opening theme in the variation-form second
movement. The music then returns to its original quiet
dynamic as if nothing has happened, and the ensuing variations do not repeat the joke. In German, the work is referred to as the Symphony ''mit dem Paukenschlag'', or, with the kettledrum stroke.
The third movement is a
minuet
A minuet (; also spelled menuet) is a social dance of French origin for two people, usually written in time. The English word was adapted from the Italian ''minuetto'' and the French ''menuet''.
The term also describes the musical form tha ...
and
trio, in
ternary form in the tonic key (
G major
G major is a major scale based on G (musical note), G, with the pitches G, A (musical note), A, B (musical note), B, C (musical note), C, D (musical note), D, E (musical note), E, and F♯ (musical note), F. Its key signature has one sharp (music ...
). The tempo, allegro molto (very quickly), is of note since it marks the historical shift away from the old minuet (which was played at a slower, danceable, tempo) toward the
scherzo; by his last quartets Haydn had started marking his minuets ''
presto''.
The fourth movement is a characteristically rhythmic, energetic and propulsive Haydn finale. The movement is written in
sonata rondo form with the opening bars appearing both at the beginning and in the middle of the development section. The stirring coda emphasizes the
timpani.
Later uses
Toward the end of his active career Haydn wove the theme of the second movement into an
aria
In music, an aria (, ; : , ; ''arias'' in common usage; diminutive form: arietta, ; : ariette; in English simply air (music), air) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrument (music), instrumental or orchestral accompan ...
of his
oratorio
An oratorio () is a musical composition with dramatic or narrative text for choir, soloists and orchestra or other ensemble.
Similar to opera, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguisha ...
''
The Seasons'' (1801), in which the bass soloist depicts a plowman whistling Haydn's tune as he works.
The same theme is also frequently adapted for the purpose of teaching musical beginners; see
Papa Haydn.
The composer
Charles Ives wrote a parody of the second movement in 1909, penning the words "Nice little easy sugar-plum sounds" under the opening notes. Ives was unhappy with concert audiences who unadventurously resisted difficult modern music—as is shown by other words in his parody: "Nice sweety silk bonnet melodies ... nice pretty perfumed sounds for the dress circle cushion chai
ears." Since the opening notes of Haydn's second movement are very simple, they were a suitable choice for Ives's purpose.
Donald Swann created a version of the Surprise Symphony 'with extra surprises' for the humorous
Hoffnung Music Festival.
See also
*
List of symphonies with names
*
Evolution of timpani in the 18th and 19th centuries
Notes
Sources
*
*
External links
*
{{Authority control
Symphony 094
Humor in classical music
Compositions in G major
1791 compositions