Work your notes up into a set of listening notes for someone who has no musical knowledge – perhaps a child or someone who has only ever listened to jazz or popular music. Avoid specialised musical terminology – the idea is to get you to listen to and describe the music at an elemental level, experiencing it as early concert-goers might have done. For your first effort, it’s probably best to concentrate either on composition or instrumentation.
I concentrated on instrumentation when writing this up:
Haydn, Franz Joseph
Symphony No. 94 in G Major, Hob.I:94, “The Surprise”
http://manchesterlib.naxosmusiclibrary.com/streamw.asp?ver=2.0&s=101977%2Fmancheslibnml11%2F6666
(accessed 15/01/18)
This symphony is divided into 4 movements.
The first movement starts with a gentle conversation starter by the woodwinds, followed by a reply by the strings. After a minute or so the music becomes livelier and you can hear the double-bass, cello, and timpani more prominently. There are then sections where the oboe can be heard. Notice a solo oboe playing a trill accompanied by a flute and oboe at about 3 minutes in before the strings come in again. A lot of prominence is given to the violins that have the most ‘exciting’ lines, though there is a moment when the woodwinds get a word in, with a cheeky bassoon at the bottom accompanying flute and oboe. The horns can be heard more obviously in the louder sections.
The second movement starts with violins quietly playing a very simple nursery-rhyme tune which is interrupted by a brief ‘oi!’ from the orchestra, particularly timpani and horns. Gradually the flutes join in, the violins start playing other little motifs on top, with the winds joining in. Strings and oboe play the nursery-rhyme theme in livelier fashion, then a bit later the strings and horns until the strings, horns, and winds play the simple motif towards the end of the movement. The nursery rhyme tune is quietly at the end by the woodwinds – listen for the bassoon, oboe and flute in particular at the very end of piece.
The third movement is a waltzing dance-like movement. Listen to the lyrical winds between the more rhythmic string sections and the addition of the winds and horns on beats 2 and 3 of the dance theme. Also listen to how the orchestra sometimes all play the same thing together, and in contrast, how one instrument will play an idea only for it to repeated by a different
The strings and violins start the lively fourth movement. Haydn varies the instrumentation: there’s the addition of a flute, then a bassoon and flute, sometimes just a basson, until the horns and remaining woodwinds are added and play long held notes whilst the strings whirl around underneath. Big timpani roll towards the end of the movement. Lots of fast playing by the violins creates a sense of movement throughout.
Jim Mennell Music 