Haydn’s Surprise Symphony with Jonathan Cohen
Sponsored By
- May 18, 2019
Details
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Incidental Music to Thamos, King of Egypt
Jonathan Cohen,
conductor
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach
Cello Concerto in A Major
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Serenade No. 6 in D for Two Small Orchestras, Serenata nottuma
Jonathan Cohen,
conductor
Franz Joseph Haydn
Symphony No. 94, Surprise (23 min)
Jonathan Cohen,
conductor
After Franz Joseph Haydn’s longtime patron Prince Nikolaus Esterházy died in 1790 and his successor disbanded the court orchestra, Haydn was left with a reduced salary and more freedom than he had enjoyed in decades. Seizing the opportunity, a German impresario active in London enticed Haydn to England with a generous contract for the 1791.92 season. Besides a busy schedule of socializing and teaching, Haydn prepared music for the spring concert season with Salomon’s 40-piece orchestra, which offered mixed programs of symphonies, concertos, arias and chamber music each Monday in London’s Hanover Square Rooms. Haydn ended up presenting six new symphonies on that trip and six more during a follow-up visit in 1794-95, capping his extraordinary lifetime of work in a genre that he, more than any other composer, shaped into its everlasting form.
London audiences liked their music as splashy and colorful as possible, and Haydn responded by stuffing his “London” symphonies with extra drama and many notable, nickname-worthy effects. None is more memorable than the “Surprise” that gives the Symphony No. 94 its name, but even before that signature passage in the Andante, this symphony starts building anticipation with a noble introduction and an arrival at the fast body of the first movement that deceptively masks the home key for a moment before landing on it hard with the full orchestra at a forte dynamic. That surprise, though, is only a warm-up; you can’t miss the real punch line in the second movement, which somehow never seems to lose its impact, even for listeners who are in on the joke.
In the Minuet and Trio, passages of sophisticated counterpoint and unexpected phrasing keep this hearty dance music on its toes. The finale uses one of Haydn’s favorite tricks of starting a movement at a whispered piano dynamic to set up a big arrival, and this example draws out the suspense longer than most, waiting until the 38th measure before the gratifying wallop of a forte downbeat played by the entire orchestra.
Aaron Grad ©2024
About This Program
Approximate length 2:00
In a program spanning just 38 years of music, Artistic Partner Jonathan Cohen shows off the expressive range and influence of an impressive group of composers. Works by Mozart flank a C.P.E. Bach cello concerto performed by SPCO Principal Cellist Julie Albers. Although we might think that C.P.E. lived in his father Johann Sebastian’s shadow, during the late 18th century, Carl Philipp Emanuel’s reputation surpassed that of his father. The program also includes the Surprise Symphony by Haydn, one of C.P.E. Bach’s greatest admirers.
In a program spanning just 38 years of music, Artistic Partner Jonathan Cohen shows off the expressive range and influence of an impressive group of composers. Works by Mozart flank a C.P.E. Bach cello concerto performed by SPCO Principal Cellist Julie Albers. Although we might think that C.P.E. lived in his father Johann Sebastian’s shadow, during the late 18th century, Carl Philipp Emanuel’s reputation surpassed that of his father. The program also includes the Surprise Symphony by Haydn, one of C.P.E. Bach’s greatest admirers.
Tickets for the performance at Humboldt High School are free for residents of Saint Paul’s West Side, as well as for kids, students and the families of West Side school students.
The winners of the 2019 SPCO Youth Chamber Music Competition, the Des Moines Symphony Academy Quartet, will perform in the Ordway Concert Hall in lieu of our regular Fanfare presentation preceding the Saturday, May 18 performance of Haydn's Surprise Symphony. The members of the quartet are Beau Henson (violin), Olivia Wong (violin), Dorothy Junginger (viola) and Joanna Kim (cello).
The annual competition is sponsored and coordinated by the Friends of the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, the volunteer organization that supports the SPCO through educational, social and fundraising activities. Partnering with them are MNSOTA (Minnesota String and Orchestra Teachers Association), and MacPhail Center for Music. To learn more about the competition and the rest of this year's winners, visit www.spco-ycmc.org.