# SURPRISE! One note still heard round the world



## Funny (Nov 30, 2013)

Exactly 225 years ago today, audiences heard the first performance of Haydn's Symphony #94, the "Surprise" symphony. Already the first composer to become famous all across Europe during his lifetime, Haydn might have been surprised himself to find that, 225 years later, it's that one loud chord in the 16th measure of the slow movement that most non-musicians think of when they hear his name (if they think of anything), and the same goes for many musicians.

It's the loudness that most people think of as the "surprise." Program notes often refer to a presumed desire to "wake up sleepy concertgoers," and certainly that chord provides a dynamic jolt. But it's really something more: After all, Haydn often used a sudden loud entrance in slow movements to spice things up. The slow movements of #63, where a quiet call gets a loud response, and of #55, where a suddenly-loud section occurs mid-phrase, are good examples. There are also slow-movement outbursts in #65, #66, #76, #80, #82, #83, #85, #86, and (notably) #91, #92 and #93. Yet in all these previous iterations, there was a "reason" for the sudden loudness - it gets contextualized as part of the overall phrasing and texture of the movement. 

The 'stinger' chord in #94 is different, because it is completely gratuitous. As the music continues peacefully as though nothing odd had happened, we quickly realize that chord's only reason for existing is to be silly, is for Haydn to tip his hand as author and momentarily pull back the curtain: You're not listening to sounds coming to you from celestial spheres, but from the mind of a human being. More than that, it's someone not content with erudite 'wit,' but willing to go for pratfall-level humor in the midst of high-minded serenity. For an instant, by breaking the rules of decorum and good taste, Haydn surprisingly breaks the fourth wall, summing up all his previous uses of this suddenly-loud device in a one-note self-parody. And with Haydn having declared his intentions to break such rules, first-time listeners must hear the rest of the movement in a somewhat altered state, wondering if the jolt is going to reappear. It doesn't, because now having made you listen for it, Haydn gets more mileage out of the gag by doing nothing more with it.

That's my take on this movement that gives #94 its (English) nickname, but there's plenty more to say about the symphony - a very good one even though I wouldn't rank it among Haydn's top 25 symphonies - and about Haydn's use of surprise. Any observations/ruminations on same are welcome on this Surprise Symphony birthday.


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## amfortas (Jun 15, 2011)

Funny said:


> . . . a very good one even though I wouldn't rank it among Haydn's top 25 symphonies . . .


So it can still be one of his best.


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## Funny (Nov 30, 2013)

amfortas said:


> So it can still be one of his best.


 Yeah, I'd say top 40, easily.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

The thing is, Haydn uses that soft, loud gimmick in many of his symphonies, not just 94 in G Major.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

The bassoon joke at the end of the slow movement of Symphony No. 93 is much more original than the soft, loud gimmick in Symphony No. 94.


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## jegreenwood (Dec 25, 2015)

hpowders said:


> The bassoon joke at the end of the slow movement of Symphony No. 93 is much more original than the soft, loud gimmick in Symphony No. 94.


Especially on the Szell/Cleveland recording.


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## Funny (Nov 30, 2013)

hpowders said:


> The thing is, Haydn uses that soft, loud gimmick in many of his symphonies, not just 94 in G Major.





hpowders said:


> The bassoon joke at the end of the slow movement of Symphony No. 93 is much more original than the soft, loud gimmick in Symphony No. 94.


Thanks for those points. The first happens to be one that I spelled out pretty thoroughly in the original post. The second is an opinion that I'd be glad to hear the basis for, considering (rebutting?) my explanation of why the joke in #94 goes far beyond the basic "soft, loud gimmick."


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

amfortas said:


> So it can still be one of his best.


Conducted by Dorati or the young Berstein......easy top 10 .


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