Surprise Symphony: A Song History
Joseph Haydn's Symphony No. 94 in G major, called the "Surprise" in English, was one of six symphonies commissioned by the violinist and concert promoter Johann Peter Salomon for Haydn's first stay in England, which began on 1 January 1791.[1] The autograph score is dated 1791, and most of the work was probably written in the summer of that year, while Haydn spent five weeks as the guest of the banker Nathaniel Brassey in Hertfordshire.[1] Its first performance came on 23 March 1792, at the sixth concert of Salomon's season.[1] Haydn conducted, and the venue was the Hanover Square concert rooms.[2]
Kettledrum, copper, iron, skin and fabric, late 18th century (?). A kettledrum of the late eighteenth century, shown for the drum stroke behind the symphony's German nickname; it has no connection to Haydn.
The nickname refers to the slow second movement, an Andante whose hushed opening theme is cut short by a sudden fortissimo chord from the full orchestra.[1] The chord was an afterthought: Haydn's manuscript preserves a crossed-out first draft of the opening bars without it.[1] German speakers know the work as mit dem Paukenschlag, "with the drum stroke."[3] A popular story holds that the crash was meant to wake dozing listeners.[2] Britannica relays one such account, involving a snoring patron in the front row, and notes that the reason for the added chord has been the subject of much speculation.[3] Haydn rejected the idea when his biographer Georg August Griesinger asked about it, saying he had wanted to give the public something new and to avoid being upstaged by his pupil Ignaz Pleyel, whose rival London concerts had opened about a week before his own.[1]
The Andante's tune is still a staple of music education; the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, for example, builds a listening lesson for first- through third-graders around it.[4] For dulcimer players, Larry Conger sets "Surprise Symphony" in DAD tuning in The Classical Dulcimer, a Fingers Of Steel book of 29 classical pieces, most of them older than the dulcimer itself, that comes as a 46-page PDF with a separate file and an MP3 recording for every tune.[5]
Sources
- G. Henle Verlag: "Haydn, Symphony No. 94 in G major, Hob. I:94 (Preface)".
- YourClassical (Composers Datebook): "'A good story, but not exactly true,' says Haydn".
- Encyclopaedia Britannica: "Surprise Symphony".
- St. Louis Symphony Orchestra: "Learning Lab: Surprise Symphony (Teachers)".
- Fingers Of Steel: "Larry Conger, The Classical Dulcimer".
- Image: Kettledrum, copper, iron, skin and fabric, late 18th century (?). The Metropolitan Museum of Art.