Symphony No. 94 “Surprise”

A two-bar phrase in the winds is followed by a two-bar phrase in the low strings. The strings move towards D major, and when the exchange is repeated they return to G. Haydn marked the passage Adagio cantabile.

Every London symphony except No. 95 begins with a slow introduction. Orrin Howard described this one as “a brief, patrician prelude” with a passing grey cloud that darkens the horizon. No. 95, the only one in a minor key, has no introduction.

The Vivace begins in the two violin sections, with a G♯ in the second violins’ first bar pointing towards A minor. Four bars into the new tempo the full orchestra enters forte on G. The bass holds that G while the notes above it grow quicker.

The symphony was first performed on 23 March 1792, in a concert organised by Johann Peter Salomon during Haydn’s first London visit. Haydn’s pupil Ignaz Pleyel was providing music for a rival concert series in the city.

Orrin Howard identified three themes in the exposition. He called the first whimsical, noting that it begins “mischievously outside the home key”. He described the second as a restrained, pure waltz tune with a lilt, and the third as a warm melody with distinctive downward leaps.

After the première the Morning Herald’s critic called the subject “remarkably simple, but extended to vast complication”. Richard Wigmore applied this to the movement. The repeated notes and rising chromatic lines of the slow introduction return as material in the quick Vivace.

The development begins with a variant of the first tune. At bar 123 loud broken chords take over, moving from A major through D minor and B♭ major to G minor.

The development ends with a cadence in B minor. Haydn repeats the note B, then puts G beneath it, so that the same note now belongs to G major. The recapitulation of the first theme begins at bar 154.

Griesinger asked Haydn, in jest, whether the Andante’s drum stroke was meant to wake dozing Englishmen. Haydn said he had wanted to surprise the public and debut brilliantly, so that his pupil Pleyel should not outdo him. The first Allegro, he added, had already won countless bravos.

The return of the main theme brings what Richard Wigmore called, in effect, “an intensive second development”. The theme reaches a rounded conclusion only towards the end.

The violins play a short theme in C major, and the bass adds a note at the start of each bar. The first phrase is repeated pianissimo, with pizzicato strings. Then the full orchestra plays a fortissimo G major chord.

In the first variation (bars 33–⁠48) the second violins and violas play the theme while the first violins add a semiquaver counterpoint above it. A flute joins some of the answering phrases.

In Griesinger’s 1810 biography, Haydn described his aim in London: “I wanted to surprise the public with something new.” His pupil Pleyel was then writing for a rival concert series. Haydn intended to make the stronger impression.

The second variation is in C minor. Loud unison phrases alternate with quiet string passages, and the first and second violins then exchange phrases through E♭ major and F minor.

C major returns with the oboe. Later the flute joins it in a duet, and the violins play the melody beneath the two wind instruments.

The full orchestra plays the fourth variation fortissimo, with off-beat accompaniment. A passage for strings and bassoon follows, marked piano, before the full orchestra returns fortissimo.

In the coda, from bar 139, the winds play the theme above held string chords. The harmony moves through seventh and ninth chords over a C pedal in the bass.

Flute, bassoon and first violins play the minuet’s opening tune, which leaps through G major in crotchets. The marking is Allegro molto.

Richard Wigmore called this the fastest and lustiest minuet in all Haydn’s symphonies, a rustic dance with an “oompah” accompaniment. The second half is more involved. Its phrases are irregular, it has touches of counterpoint, and a three-note figure recurs.

The rising quaver figure that closes the first half of the minuet returns inverted in the Trio.

The Trio stays in G major and leaves out most of the winds. The first violins and a bassoon play the tune above the other strings, all marked piano. The first half falls into two phrases of four bars each.

Orrin Howard called the minuet “a true Austrian peasant dance”. He described the Trio at its centre as “delightfully subtle and dignified”.

At the end of the Trio the score marks Da capo, and the minuet is played again from the beginning. The flute plays with the bassoon and violins once more, and the full orchestra plays forte.

The strings play the opening theme alone, and a flute joins them for the repeat. When the theme returns, flute and bassoon join the strings. The full orchestra enters after these statements, which take up bars 1–⁠38.

The second theme, from bar 75, is also quiet, and the strings again lead. Beneath it the bass repeats D for most of the theme while the harmony alternates between D major and A major.

The development opens with the first theme in G major, now with bassoon (bars 99–⁠124). Its closing figure then moves into the bass and passes through a rapid succession of keys.

The recapitulation in G major begins at bar 182. It leaves out the repeated opening of the first theme and starts with its contrasting phrase, and Haydn cuts the transition between the two themes. The second theme returns in the home key, and the coda begins at bar 222.

The coda begins softly at bar 222 with the upbeat of the theme. A timpani roll reaches forte one bar before the rest of the orchestra, and the first theme returns in E♭ major.