GCSE Music: 2nd movement from Haydn’s

“Surprise” Symphony
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOLy6JxEDLw

 CONTEXT: When you listen to this piece, how can you tell that this
is a movement from a symphony (not a concerto or sonata)?

 CONTEXT: How can you tell that this is the 2nd movement of the
symphony (as opposed to the 1st, 3rd, or 4th?)

 Haydn enjoyed playing practical jokes, and often included humour

in his music. This symphony was nicknamed the “Surprise”
symphony because of the musical surprise in this second
movement. Talking about this piece, he said “This will make the
ladies in the audience scream!” How does Haydn create a surprise
in the music?

 Above is the main theme that we hear at the beginning of this movement. How many bars long are the
musical phrases? How is this a feature of music from this period?

 Which instruments play this theme? A. brass B. woodwind C. strings

 What intervals does this melody mainly use? A. fifths B. thirds C. octaves

 What cadence can you hear in bars 3-4?

Choose from: perfect (V – I, sounds finished) imperfect ( …V, sounds incomplete)
interrupted (V-vi, sounds interrupted!) plagal (IV-I, sounds like “Amen”)

 At bars 7-8 (and 15-16), the music has modulated to a related key. What can you see written in the score
that show the music has modulated? (Extension: what key has it modulated to?)

 CONTEXT: This structure of this movement is called theme and variations. What does this mean?
  The theme-and-variations structure allows Haydn to show off his compositional skills. The first variation on
the theme starts at 1:16. Haydn has added a countermelody to his original theme. What is a
countermelody?

 At 2:15, Haydn presents his theme again, but this time it’s different from the first time we heard it.
How has he changed the dynamics? How has he changed the instrumentation?
How has he changed the tonality? (Extension: here has he changed the rhythms?)
(Extension: Where has he changed the shape of the melody? )
Listen, and fill in
MUSICAL ORIGINAL THEME THEME STARTING AT 2:15
ELEMENT

dynamics

instrumentation

tonality

rhythms

shape of melody

 At 3:17, Haydn gives the melody to the oboe. How has Haydn changed the rhythms of the original melody?

A. changed quavers to crotchets B. changed quavers to minims C. changed quavers to semiquavers

 At 3:32, the strings play the original melody. What is the name for what the flute and oboe are playing on
top?

 At 4:18, what kind of rhythms are the violins playing?

A. triplets B. dotted C. syncopated

 How can we tell that this is not a Baroque piece?