"Surprise" Symphony Theme (Symphony No. 94, slow movement)

Background

Joseph Haydn wrote his Symphony No. 94 in G major in 1791, during the first of his two long visits to London, where the violinist and concert promoter Johann Peter Salomon had invited him to compose new symphonies. It was first performed on 23 March 1792 at the Hanover Square Rooms and was a great success.

This tune is the theme of the second, slow movement. The strings play it very quietly, then repeat it even more quietly, and at the end of the repeat the whole orchestra, with a crash on the timpani, plays one loud chord. That moment gave the work its English nickname, the "Surprise" Symphony; in German it is known as the symphony "with the drumstroke".

A popular story says Haydn wanted to wake up audience members who dozed off in slow movements. According to his biographer Georg August Griesinger, Haydn himself gave a simpler reason: he wanted to surprise the London public with something new. After the theme, the movement continues with a set of variations on it. Haydn liked the tune enough to reuse it in his oratorio The Seasons (1801).

How to practise it

This arrangement is in C major, in 2/4 time with eighth notes as the running beat. The eight-bar theme is played twice, the surprise chord comes on the last beat of the second time, and a calm C major chord is added to finish.

The right hand starts in C position. In bar 4 the tune drops below middle C, so move the hand down: thumb on G, finger 3 on B. Bars 7 and 8 move up instead. Put the thumb on F sharp, 3 on A and 5 on C so that C, A, F sharp and G all lie under the hand.

The left hand plays two-note chords (C with G, F with C, G with D, D with A), mostly one per bar, with a quick change in bars 3 and 7. Learn them by name first.

Now the surprise:

The whole point is the contrast, so the soft bars must be truly soft. Practise playing the first fifteen bars at your quietest controlled sound, with fingers close to the keys. Then, for the chord, drop the weight of both arms into the keys at once. Afterwards, let the final C chord be calm and gentle again.

Tempo ladder: hands separately at 50, together at 50, then 60 and the full 72. Keep the repeated pairs of notes even, and the second note of each pair no louder than the first. Try playing it to someone who has not heard it before.

The sharps, scales and G major unit uses this theme for its F sharp and dynamic contrast.