Symphony No. 103 in E-Flat Major

Haydn’s penultimate symphony, though generally sunny and upbeat, opens with his most mysterious slow introduction: a sepulchral, snaking theme with heavy hints of the ominous “Dies irae” plainchant. It’s the opening gesture, though, a growl of thunder on a single timpani (sometimes called a kettledrum), that gives the symphony its nickname. Haydn’s instructions are unclear: some performances play this loud with a fade, some quiet with a swell, still others as an improvised tattoo. Nevertheless, the work instantly became known as the “Drumroll”. The symphony was composed in 1795, during Haydn’s second extended visit to London, where he thrilled audiences in a series of public concerts at the King’s Theatre in the Haymarket. Reports in the press remarked upon the introduction, as Haydn predicted: he cannily repeated it, complete with drumroll, towards the end of the opening “Allegro con spirito”, allowing it just briefly to cloud the movement’s ebullience before itself being swept away once and for all. The slow movement is based on a pair of Croatian folk tunes, which are progressively decorated in a series of alternating variations before a triumphant final statement. The “Menuetto”, with its leaping “Scotch snap” rhythms, enfolds a graceful Trio section. The closing “Allegro con spirito” is launched with a horn call and a simple violin motif, which then spar together in one of Haydn’s most exhilarating symphonic finales.