<p style="text-align: center"> <img class="size-full wp-image-1786 aligncenter" src="http://jeanatacc.com/2011/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Haydn_portrait_by_Thomas_Hardy_small4.jpg" alt="" width="215" height="231" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center">(Joseph Haydn)</p>
<p style="text-align: center"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Haydn_portrait_by_Thomas_Hardy_(small).jpg">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Haydn_portrait_by_Thomas_Hardy_(small).jpg</a></p>
<p style="text-align: left">Josef Haydn was born March 31, 1732. His mother secretly desired the idea of her child joining the priesthood. His father, however, hoped Joseph would lead towards a musical career and, despite poverty, was determined to aid Joseph in every way he could. A distant relative, Johann Mathias Frankh, arrived for a visit one day and noted Josef and his toy violin. Seeing Joseph had the makings of a musician, he offered to take him to teach him the ways of music.</p>
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Josef Haydn wrote the “<em>Surprise”</em> Symphony in London in 1791. The work opens and proceeds in the most subdued manner of slow movement. Once the audience may be imagined to have comfortably settled, a sudden explosive fortissimo chord is introduced. This symphony was composed for the first of Haydn's two extended visits to London, in 1791. Its first performance did not appear until March 23, 1792. The composition includes flutes, oboes, bassoons, horns and trumpets in pairs, with timpani and strings and lasts for 23 minutes. The symphony has remained exceedingly popular in the repertoire for its various musical qualities. It is particularly memorable for the surprise fortissimo in the second movement (<em>Andante</em>),<em> </em>which, according to Haydn, would make the women scream.

The effect of this new composure was incredibly successful. It brought numerous, and varied, descriptions and interpretations in the premier’s press reports. The insightful writer in <em>The Diary </em>was pleased to describe the slow movement as “<em>simple, profound, and sublime</em>,” but his colleague in <em>The Oracle </em>wrote:

“<em>The surprise might not be inaptly likened to the situation of a beautiful Shepherdess who, lulled to slumber by the murmur of a distant Water-fall, starts alarmed by the unexpected firing of a fowling-piece</em>.”

The symphony was from then on known as the “Surprise Symphony” in English and French areas. It is known as <em>Sinfonie mit dem Paukenschlag</em> (“Symphony with the Drumbeat”) in German. Today, the symphony is still popular. It is still performed, recorded, and frequently adapted to teach musical beginners. For instance, the composer Charles Ives wrote a parody of the second movement (1909). He wrote the words “Nice little easy sugar-plum sounds” using the opening notes, which were a fitting choice for Ives's purpose since the notes of Haydn's second movement are very simple.

Despite his clever and unusual addition to the “Surprise” symphony, Haydn cited popular tunes in his symphonies quite often, particularly in the variation-type slow movements. He based the <em>Andante </em>of this Symphony in G major on a universal tune (we know it by the name of “Twinkle, twinkle, little star”). Mozart had already composed keyboard variations on this tune (known by its French title “<em>Ah, vous dirai-je, Maman</em>”). Less than a hundred years ago, Ernst von Dohnányi (a Hungarian composer/pianist/conductor) used the tune as the foundation for “<em>Variations on a Nursery Song</em>” (which was written for pianos and orchestras).

Haydn's original intention for the second movement of this symphony was to write variations on a well-known tune. The famous double-forte outburst (which gave the work its nickname) was put in really more of an afterthought. It was not provoked by his supposed wish to wake the audience and make them jump. He saw it as a significant piece towards the need to be competitive with his former pupil Ignaz Pleyel (who had been brought toEnglandby a rival of Salomon, a German-bornLondonmusician and impresario who proposed Haydn visitLondonand compose symphonies there). Pleyel had similar devices in his own compositions, having gotten the idea from earlier symphonies of Haydn.

Bach’s famous “Goldberg” Variations (also a Baroque work and in the same form) contrast with the “Surprise” symphony. Bach’s work begins with a highly elaborate aria, but plays no part in the variations that follow it. Instead, each variation is independent. They are created, not from the aria’s melody, but from the bass line. Through this, Bach maintains the work’s overall unity as a set of variations. He achieves this on an unconscious level, however, since the audience isn’t expected to pay attention to the bass line. Each variation calls for a new theme specific to the feeling being expressed. Obviously, Haydn’s approach was quite different. In his symphony, the same simple tune reveals new emotion within each subsequent variation.

I quite enjoy this piece. The first movement's gentle melodies and breathtaking harmonies may possibly put one to sleep. However, the abrupt fortissimo in the second movement will surely awaken you and recapture your attention, while the third and fourth movements provide a wonderful ending to this classical symphony. It would have been interesting though if Haydn had placed the surprise in a different place within the symphony every time it was preformed.

I think this piece should be preserved because its composition illustrates the importance of sound patterns in perceiving music. Moreover, it proves how a sound that listeners are not expecting to hear can manipulate the listeners' experience towards the music.

<span style="text-decoration: underline">Works Cited</span>:
<ul>
	<li>Deverich, Robin. “<em>Piece: Surprise Symphony NO. 94, 2nd Movement</em>.” RK Deverich. 2011. Web. Accessed: October 5, 2011 &lt;<a href="http://www.violinonline.com/unit3_7.html">http://www.violinonline.com/unit3_7.html</a>&gt;</li>
</ul>
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<ul>
	<li>Freed, Richard. “<em>Symphony No. 94 in G major, “Surprise”.</em>” The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. 2004. Web. Accessed: October 5, 2011</li>
</ul>
&lt;<a href="http://www.kennedy-center.org/calendar/?fuseaction=composition&amp;composition_id=2843">http://www.kennedy-center.org/calendar/?fuseaction=composition&amp;composition_id=2843</a>&gt;

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<ul>
	<li>Gutmann, Peter<strong>. “</strong><em>Johann Sebastian Bach: Goldberg Variations.</em>”<strong> </strong>Classical Notes. 2002. Web. Accessed: October 5, 2012</li>
</ul>
&lt;<a href="http://www.classicalnotes.net/classics/goldberg.html">http://www.classicalnotes.net/classics/goldberg.html</a>&gt;