Haydn Symphony No 100 "Military" (3rd mvt)

Franz Josef Haydn, arr. Peter Guthrie

Composed:
1794 Arranged:
1998 Grouping:
SSAATTb 

The "Military" symphony was written for Haydn's second London visit in 1794, and was first performed on the 31st March that year. It was received with great enthusiasm, largely because of Haydn's unprecedented use of the bass drum, triangle and cymbals in the second and fourth movements of the symphony, a combination known in the 18th century as "Turkish" or "Military" music. This colourful and noisy feature gave the symphony its nickname.

A London newspaper wrote that "the rapture it gave cannot be communicated by words, to be known it must be heard", while an audience member, whose programme has survived, simply noted "Grand but very loud".

The third movement presents a light, almost whimsical, menuetto. Arranged in 1998.

 Score  Parts
© 1998 Peter Guthrie

If you enjoyed this piece, have comments or corrections, we'd love to hear from you.

This music is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution Licence.