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Haydn: Surprise, 4th movement

Form scheme 4th movement

This serene movement, which indicates the artistic influence by the younger Mozart, fascinates the modern listener by its musicality.

bars 1-16

The main theme of the 4th movement is based on simple harmonic structures, it consists of 8 bars, presented by the violin. It occurs twice, in the repetition the flute takes up the theme in the higher octave. The ease of the theme with its eighth note motion is carried on into the continuation of the theme in the 1st violin and leads back to the first 4 bars of the main theme, the front part, played by 1st violin, flute and bassoon, whereas the tail part is transformed into a new closing formula. In the bridge the whole orchestra strikes in - like in the 1st movement - on the last tone of the theme so that the movement can go on without a break. This is characteristic of Haydn’s musicality. While the 1st and 2nd violins play dashing scales, other instruments (double bass, cello, bassoon) introduce a motif derived from the last bar of the main theme epilogue. This motif - marked as bridge motif - gains greater importance in the development. A further motif, inserted in the sixteenth notes movement of the bridge, is the head of the main theme. After a chromatically descending run the bridge ends up in a cadenced succession of chords in which the missing final chord is replaced by a general pause.

bars 75-86

This one-bar break, which interrupts the sixteenth note movement, draws the listener’s attention to the newly appearing secondary theme in D major. This theme of 4 bars consists of a dominant seventh chord and a triad, melodically elaborated and fragmented. After its presentation in the 1st violin it is repeated and joined by oboe and flute. String scales, whose purpose is to conclude the exposition part of the movement, lead on to 3 forte beats of the orchestra.

bars 100-111

The development begins with repetitions of C, the naturalised lead tone of C sharp. The main theme can start in the root key, G major. Haydn begins to present the upbeat bridge motif in various instruments (double bass, celli, 1st violin), in each case accompanied by sixteenth note movements. The speed of the movement increases. The technique to achieve this is aim is by halving the rhythmic units. The head of the main theme closes this development section.

bars 145-159

The second part of the development section begins with the main theme in its original form. G major is succeeded by the head of the main theme in G minor and a modulation to E-flat major. The upbeat 2nd bar of the main theme is now made independent and used in modulations. A fortissimo sixteenth note scale by the 1st violins leads on to the repeated use of the 2nd bar of the main theme, this time the upbeat second is inverted. The sixteenth note runs of the 1st and 2nd violins end in a melodically embellished D-major triad. The recapitulation starts. The main theme in G major is played by the 1st violins, the flute and the bassoon. The recapitulation contains the basic elements of the exposition. The continuation of the theme - played in pianissimo like the main theme - ends with the head of the main theme and closing chords, in which the general pause replaces the tension-relaxing common chord. The secondary theme recurs in the tonic G-major key, first in the violin, then joined by the flute to intensify the effect. Well-known motifs turn up in the Coda. The 2nd bar breaks away from the head of the main theme and becomes independent. The head of the main theme (in E-flat major) sounds up in forte, followed by the upbeat bridge motif.

bars 241-268

Concluding sixteenth note runs in the strings, interspersed by bridge motifs, lead to a series of closing chords. Woodwind chords in piano immediately before the final conclusion make the latter all the more effective.