Symphony No. 94 (Haydn)
Encyclopedia
The Symphony No. 94 in G major
(Hoboken 1/94) is the second of the twelve so-called London symphonies
(numbers 93-104) written by Joseph Haydn
. It is usually called by its nickname, the Surprise Symphony, although in German it is more often referred to as the Symphony "mit dem Paukenschlag" ("with the kettledrum stroke").
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
.
s, oboe
s, bassoon
s, horn
s, trumpet
s, plus timpani
, and the usual string section consisting of first and second violin
s, viola
s, cello
s, and double bass
es.
A typical performance of the Surprise Symphony lasts about 23 minutes.
chord at the end of an otherwise piano
opening theme in the variation-form second movement. The music then returns to its original quiet dynamic
, as if nothing had happened, and the ensuing variations do not repeat the joke.
In Haydn's old age, George August Griesinger, his biographer, asked whether he wrote this "surprise" to awaken the audience. Haydn replied:
The work was popular at its premiere. The Woodfall's Register critic wrote: "The third piece of HAYDN was a new Overture [i.e. symphony], of very extraordinary merit. It was simple, profound, and sublime. The andante movement was particularly admired."
The Morning Herald critic wrote:
The symphony is still popular today, and is frequently performed and recorded.
The first movement has a lyrical 3/4 introduction that precedes a highly rhythmic main section in 6/8 time. As with much of Haydn's work, it is written in so-called "monothematic" sonata form
; that is, the movement to the dominant
key in the exposition
is not marked by a "second theme".
The second, "surprise", movement, the Andante, is a theme and variations
in 2/4 time in the subdominant
key of C major
. The theme is in two eight-bar sections, each repeated. Haydn sets up the surprise, which occurs at the end of the repeat of the first section, by making the repeat pianissimo with pizzicato
in the lower strings. 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, then 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 chord
s over a tonic pedal
.
The third movement is a minuet
and trio
, in ternary form
in the tonic key (G major
). The tempo, Allegro molto, or very quickly, is of note since it marks the historical shift away from the old minuet (at a slower, i.e. danceable, tempo) toward the scherzo
; by the time of his last quartets Haydn had started to mark 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
.
of his oratorio
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[r] 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
.http://www.donaldswann.co.uk/instrumental.html#instrumental
G major
G major is a major scale based on G, with the pitches G, A, B, C, D, E, and F. Its key signature has one sharp, F; in treble-clef key signatures, the sharp-symbol for F is usually placed on the first line from the top, though in some Baroque music it is placed on the first space from the bottom...
(Hoboken 1/94) is the second of the twelve so-called London symphonies
London symphonies
The London symphonies, sometimes called the Salomon symphonies after the man who introduced London to Joseph Haydn, were composed by Joseph Haydn between 1791 and 1795...
(numbers 93-104) written by Joseph Haydn
Joseph Haydn
Franz Joseph Haydn , known as Joseph Haydn , was an Austrian composer, one of the most prolific and prominent composers of the Classical period. He is often called the "Father of the Symphony" and "Father of the String Quartet" because of his important contributions to these forms...
. It is usually called by its nickname, the Surprise Symphony, although in German it is more often referred to as the Symphony "mit dem Paukenschlag" ("with the kettledrum stroke").
Date of composition
Haydn wrote the symphony in 17911791 in music
-Classical music:*Franz Anton Hoffmeister – String Quartet in F*Joseph Haydn – Symphony No. 96 in D "Miracle"*Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – Requiem*Franz Xaver Süssmayr – Concerto Movement in D major for Basset Horn-Opera:...
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
Hanover Square Rooms
The Hanover Square Rooms or the Queen's Concert Rooms were assembly rooms established, principally for musical performances, on the corner of Hanover Square, London, by Sir John Gallini in partnership with Johann Christian Bach and Carl Friedrich Abel in 1774. For exactly one century this was the...
in London on March 23, 1792, with Haydn leading the orchestra seated at a fortepiano
Fortepiano
Fortepiano designates the early version of the piano, from its invention by the Italian instrument maker Bartolomeo Cristofori around 1700 up to the early 19th century. It was the instrument for which Haydn, Mozart, and the early Beethoven wrote their piano music...
.
Scoring
The Surprise Symphony is scored for a Classical-era orchestra consisting of two each of fluteFlute
The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
s, oboe
Oboe
The oboe is a double reed musical instrument of the woodwind family. In English, prior to 1770, the instrument was called "hautbois" , "hoboy", or "French hoboy". The spelling "oboe" was adopted into English ca...
s, bassoon
Bassoon
The bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family that typically plays music written in the bass and tenor registers, and occasionally higher. Appearing in its modern form in the 19th century, the bassoon figures prominently in orchestral, concert band and chamber music literature...
s, horn
Horn (instrument)
The horn is a brass instrument consisting of about of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. A musician who plays the horn is called a horn player ....
s, trumpet
Trumpet
The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
s, plus timpani
Timpani
Timpani, or kettledrums, are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum, they consist of a skin called a head stretched over a large bowl traditionally made of copper. They are played by striking the head with a specialized drum stick called a timpani stick or timpani mallet...
, and the usual string section consisting of first and second violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
s, viola
Viola
The viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...
s, cello
Cello
The cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
s, and double bass
Double bass
The double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
es.
A typical performance of the Surprise Symphony lasts about 23 minutes.
Nickname (the Surprise)
Haydn's music contains many jokes, and the Surprise Symphony includes probably the most famous of all: a sudden fortissimoDynamics (music)
In music, dynamics normally refers to the volume of a sound or note, but can also refer to every aspect of the execution of a given piece, either stylistic or functional . The term is also applied to the written or printed musical notation used to indicate dynamics...
chord at the end of an otherwise piano
Dynamics (music)
In music, dynamics normally refers to the volume of a sound or note, but can also refer to every aspect of the execution of a given piece, either stylistic or functional . The term is also applied to the written or printed musical notation used to indicate dynamics...
opening theme in the variation-form second movement. The music then returns to its original quiet dynamic
Dynamics (music)
In music, dynamics normally refers to the volume of a sound or note, but can also refer to every aspect of the execution of a given piece, either stylistic or functional . The term is also applied to the written or printed musical notation used to indicate dynamics...
, as if nothing had happened, and the ensuing variations do not repeat the joke.
In Haydn's old age, George August Griesinger, his biographer, asked 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 PleyelIgnaz PleyelIgnace Joseph Pleyel , ; was an Austrian-born French composer and piano builder of the Classical period.-Early years:...
, 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 [i.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 [sic] modulated and striking in effect. Critical applause was fervid and abundant."
The symphony is still popular today, and is frequently performed and recorded.
Movements
Like all of Haydn's "London" symphonies, the work is in four movements, marked as follows:- I. Adagio - Vivace assai
- II. Andante
- III. Menuetto: Allegro molto
- IV. Finale: Allegro molto
The first movement has a lyrical 3/4 introduction that precedes a highly rhythmic main section in 6/8 time. As with much of Haydn's work, it is written in so-called "monothematic" sonata form
Sonata form
Sonata form is a large-scale musical structure used widely since the middle of the 18th century . While it is typically used in the first movement of multi-movement pieces, it is sometimes used in subsequent movements as well—particularly the final movement...
; that is, the movement to the dominant
Dominant (music)
In music, the dominant is the fifth scale degree of the diatonic scale, called "dominant" because it is next in importance to the tonic,and a dominant chord is any chord built upon that pitch, using the notes of the same diatonic scale...
key in the exposition
Exposition (music)
In musical form and analysis, exposition is the initial presentation of the thematic material of a musical composition, movement, or section. The use of the term generally implies that the material will be developed or varied....
is not marked by a "second theme".
The second, "surprise", movement, the Andante, is a theme and variations
Variation (music)
In music, variation is a formal technique where material is repeated in an altered form. The changes may involve harmony, melody, counterpoint, rhythm, timbre, orchestration or any combination of these.-Variation form:...
in 2/4 time in the subdominant
Subdominant
In music, the subdominant is the technical name for the fourth tonal degree of the diatonic scale. It is so called because it is the same distance "below" the tonic as the dominant is above the tonic - in other words, the tonic is the dominant of the subdominant. It is also the note immediately...
key of C major
C major
C major is a musical major scale based on C, with pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. Its key signature has no flats/sharps.Its relative minor is A minor, and its parallel minor is C minor....
. The theme is in two eight-bar sections, each repeated. Haydn sets up the surprise, which occurs at the end of the repeat of the first section, by making the repeat pianissimo with pizzicato
Pizzicato
Pizzicato is a playing technique that involves plucking the strings of a string instrument. The exact technique varies somewhat depending on the type of stringed instrument....
in the lower strings. Four variations of the theme follow, starting with embellishment in sixteenth notes by the first violins, moving to a stormy variation in C minor
C minor
C minor is a minor scale based on C, consisting of the pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. The harmonic minor raises the B to B. Changes needed for the melodic and harmonic versions of the scale are written in with naturals and accidentals as necessary.Its key signature consists of three flats...
with trumpets and timpani, then solos for the first oboist
Oboe
The oboe is a double reed musical instrument of the woodwind family. In English, prior to 1770, the instrument was called "hautbois" , "hoboy", or "French hoboy". The spelling "oboe" was adopted into English ca...
and flautist
Flute
The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
, 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 chord
Diminished seventh chord
A diminished seventh chord is a four note chord that comprises a diminished triad plus the interval of a diminished seventh above the root. Thus it is , or enharmonically , of any major scale; for example, C diminished-seventh would be , or enharmonically...
s over a tonic pedal
Pedal point
In tonal music, a pedal point is a sustained tone, typically in the bass, during which at least one foreign, i.e., dissonant harmony is sounded in the other parts. A pedal point sometimes functions as a "non-chord tone", placing it in the categories alongside suspensions, retardations, and passing...
.
The third movement is a minuet
Minuet
A minuet, also spelled menuet, is a social dance of French origin for two people, usually in 3/4 time. The word was adapted from Italian minuetto and French menuet, and may have been from French menu meaning slender, small, referring to the very small steps, or from the early 17th-century popular...
and trio
Trio (music)
Trio is generally used in any of the following ways:* A group of three musicians playing the same or different musical instrument.* The performance of a piece of music by three people.* The contrasting section of a piece in ternary form...
, in ternary form
Ternary form
Ternary form, sometimes called song form, is a three-part musical form, usually schematicized as A-B-A. The first and third parts are musically identical, or very nearly so, while the second part in some way provides a contrast with them...
in the tonic key (G major
G major
G major is a major scale based on G, with the pitches G, A, B, C, D, E, and F. Its key signature has one sharp, F; in treble-clef key signatures, the sharp-symbol for F is usually placed on the first line from the top, though in some Baroque music it is placed on the first space from the bottom...
). The tempo, Allegro molto, or very quickly, is of note since it marks the historical shift away from the old minuet (at a slower, i.e. danceable, tempo) toward the scherzo
Scherzo
A scherzo is a piece of music, often a movement from a larger piece such as a symphony or a sonata. The scherzo's precise definition has varied over the years, but it often refers to a movement which replaces the minuet as the third movement in a four-movement work, such as a symphony, sonata, or...
; by the time of his last quartets Haydn had started to mark his minuets presto.
The fourth movement is a characteristically rhythmic, energetic and propulsive Haydn finale. The movement is written in sonata rondo form
Sonata rondo form
Sonata rondo form was a form of musical organization often used during the Classical music era. As the name implies, it is a blend of sonata form and rondo form.- Structure :...
with the opening bars appearing both at the beginning and in the middle of the development section. The stirring coda emphasizes the timpani
Timpani
Timpani, or kettledrums, are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum, they consist of a skin called a head stretched over a large bowl traditionally made of copper. They are played by striking the head with a specialized drum stick called a timpani stick or timpani mallet...
.
Later uses
Toward the end of his active career Haydn wove the theme of the second movement into an ariaAria
An aria in music was originally any expressive melody, usually, but not always, performed by a singer. The term is now used almost exclusively to describe a self-contained piece for one voice usually with orchestral accompaniment...
of his oratorio
Oratorio
An oratorio is a large musical composition including an orchestra, a choir, and soloists. Like an opera, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an ensemble, various distinguishable characters, and arias...
The Seasons
The Seasons (Haydn)
The Seasons is an oratorio by Joseph Haydn .-Composition, premiere, and reception:Haydn was led to write The Seasons by the great success of his previous oratorio The Creation , which had become very popular and was in the course of being performed all over Europe...
(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
Papa Haydn
The composer Joseph Haydn is sometimes given the nickname "Papa" Haydn. The practice began in the composer's lifetime, and has continued to some extent to the present day.-"Papa" as a term of affection:...
.
The composer Charles Ives
Charles Ives
Charles Edward Ives was an American modernist composer. He is one of the first American composers of international renown, though Ives' music was largely ignored during his life, and many of his works went unperformed for many years. Over time, Ives came to be regarded as an "American Original"...
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[r] ears." Since the opening notes of Haydn's second movement are very simple, they were a suitable choice for Ives's purpose.
Donald Swann
Donald Swann
Donald Ibrahím Swann was a British composer, musician and entertainer. He is best known to the general public for his partnership of writing and performing comic songs with Michael Flanders .-Life:...
created a version of the Surprise Symphony 'with extra surprises' for the humorous Hoffnung Music Festival
Hoffnung Music Festival
The Hoffnung Music Festivals were a series of three humorous classical music festivals held in Royal Festival Hall, London in 1956, 1958 and 1961...
.http://www.donaldswann.co.uk/instrumental.html#instrumental
See also
- List of symphonies by name
- Evolution of Timpani in the 18th and 19th centuriesEvolution of Timpani in the 18th and 19th centuriesThe modern timpani evolved in the 18th and 19th centuries from the simple 12th century membranophone of the Naker to a complex instrument, consisting of a suspended kettle with a foot operated clutch, capable of rapid tuning...