Back in school I heard the story that Haydn wrote the “Surprise Symphony” because he was sick of people sleeping through his music, and wanted to startle them awake. It seems like this was a myth.
From the Wikipedia article:
In Haydn’s old age, his biographer Georg August Griesinger asked him whether he wrote this “surprise” to awaken the audience. Haydn replied:
No, but I was interested in surprising the public with something new…
Why do all the cool stories from history end up being made up?
But symphony 45 really was written to resolve a labor dispute. That is true.
Aw man, in the tenth grade we had to do a music recital and this was the song I chose. Specifically because I knew thirty kids would have to play some music whether they were interested in the course or not, and I thought the whole sleepy thing was a funny bit.
All the cool stories really are made up :(
Wow, I have such a vivid memory of my elementary school music teacher telling us the exact same story.
Throw a citation needed at that bitch
it is, however, the reason Emeril Lagasse yells BAM!
apparently he used to be a culinary teacher and he would do it to wake people up.
