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Haydn was well known for including jokes in his music, and the Surprise Symphony includes what is probably the most famous one: he wrote a loud "surprise" chord near the beginning of the second movement after a relatively tranquil opening. After the chord, the music immediately quiets down again, leaving the audience bewildered.
Haydn wrote the symphony in London for a concert series he gave during the first of his two visits to England (1791-1792). The premiere took place on March 27, 1792, with Haydn leading the orchestra seated at a fortepiano.
As with Haydn's England visits in general, the premiere was greatly successful. One reviewer wrote that the symphony was "equal to the happiest of this great Master's conceptions." In his feeble old age Haydn remembered the premiere with nostalgia, recounting to his biographer Griesinger :
Toward the end of his active career Haydn wove the theme of the second movement into an aria of his oratorio The Seasons (1801), in which the bass soloist depicts a plowman whistling Haydn's tune as he works.
The Surprise Symphony is widely performed and recorded today.
The Surprise Symphony is scored for a Classical-era orchestra consisting of 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 bassoons, 2 French horns, 2 trumpets, timpani, and the usual string section consisting of first and second violins, violas, cellos, and double bassSide and front views of a modern double bass with a french bow. The wire from the tailpiece to the bridge is for a piezo-electric pickup. With spike extended as in the photo, it measures approximately 2m tall. The double bass is a musical instrument, thees.
In recent decades performances of the work on historical instrumentsThe authentic performance movement is an effort on the part of musicians and scholars to perform works of classical music in ways similar to how they were performed when they were originally written. The movement had its beginnings in the performance of M have become popular. Many listeners feel that the older instruments increase the effectiveness of this music by offering greater dynamic and timbral contrasts.
A typical performance of the Surprise Symphony lasts about 23 minutes.
Like all of Haydn's "London" symphonies, the work is in four movements, marked as follows:
A lyrical 3/4 introduction precedes a highly rhythmic main section in 6/8 time. As with much of Haydn's work, the first movement is written in so-called "monothematic" sonata formSonata form or sonata-allegro form is a musical form, a way of organising a work of music. The original idea of a central organizing form has been very widely used by classical composers since the 18th century. It was considered to be the standard form fo; that is, the movement to the dominantThe word dominant has several possible meanings: In music theory, the dominant or dominant note (second most important) of a key is that which is a perfect fifth above the tonic; in just intonation the note whose pitch is 1. 5 times the frequency of the t key in the expositionAn exposition may be one of the following: In music an exposition is the first of the sections in sonata allegro form. It usually presents two contrasting themes, the first in the tonic key, the second in a related one (perhaps the dominant or relative ma is not marked by a "second theme".