Masters of Classical Music | Discovering Haydn's Symphony No.94 'Surprise' (Episode 4)

At St. Irene Church, Istanbul (2001) with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Mariss Jansons and hosted by Robert Levin who analyzes the composer Joseph Haydn's most famous works.

Famous for the sudden fortissimo chord in the middle of its second movement— the 'surprise' of the title - Haydn's Symphony No. 94 is one of his most beloved masterpieces. Various theories have been advanced to account for this unusual interruption. The apocryphal story goes that Haydn simply wanted to wake up his drowsy audience, but the composer him self gave a different explanation, indicating that professional rivalry may have been at the heart of the matter: I was interested in surprising the public with something new, and in making a brilliant debut, so that my student Pleyel, who was at that time engaged by an orchestra in London and whose concerts had opened a week before mine, should not outdo me.'

The composer was affectionately known by his colleagues as 'Papa Haydn', and contemporaries often wrote about his good sense of humour. Haydn was a master of misdirection, guiding us through each playful eccentricity as it occurs.

This episode explores each 'artificially embarrassing moment' - where the composer deliberately pretends to make clumsy mistakes - in turn, discussing the music in terms of harmony, form, textural contrast, phrase-length and overall mood. Haydn wants to 'play poker with the London public' by continually surprising them. The documentary compares Haydn to Mozart, both musically and in terms of character, and puts both in the historical context of the Enlightenment - in which music was broadly conceived as a civilising influence - und the emerging middle class. It frames Haydn as 'the father of the symphony', discussing his profound influence on future generations of composers.

Episode 5: https://rumble.com/v4k3nuq-masters-of-classical-music-discovering-beethovens-symphony-no.-5-episode-5.html