Surprise Symphony

noun

1. the Symphony No. 94 in G major (1791) by Franz Josef Haydn.

Example Sentences

In Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra’s season closer, guest conductor Bernard Labadie leads the ensemble in Haydn’s Symphony No. 94, a.k.a. the “Surprise” Symphony.

From Los Angeles Times

Haydn’s “Surprise” Symphony gets its nickname from a fortissimo chord placed where it has no business being, at the end of the second go-round of a quiet little ditty that sounds like a nursery game played on tiptoes.

From New York Times

The National Philharmonic brought another solidly played but unadventurous program to Strathmore on Saturday — favorites by Haydn and Mozart — that delighted the audience, particularly the many children scattered around who visibly recognized and reacted to the “surprise” second movement of Haydn’s “Surprise” Symphony.

From Washington Post

His recorded version of Haydn's famous "Surprise" symphony, for example, has more surprises than the composer ever intended.

From Reuters

One piece in his piano repertory was a reduction of Haydn’s “Surprise” Symphony, and when he was 8, his father gave him a copy of the full orchestral score.

From New York Times