Hadyn’s Surprise x Roadrunner

Enoch Jiang, Neuroscience & Behavior, 2021

The first thing that came to my mind when listening to Hadyn’s Symphony No. 94 was silly gags from childhood cartons—specifically, the ironic ones that involve some large explosion at the antagonist’s expense. “Surprise” makes use of dynamic range to really surprise the listener with a sudden crescendo that unexpectedly comes amidst a uniform and rather boring repetition of the same phrase. Similarly, Wile E. Coyote is performing an innocuous thing (in its mind) before unexpectedly blowing up! It’s an ironic sequence, as the viewers clearly know what’s going to happen; for listeners who had already heard “Surprise” before, I imagine they might have messed with their friends by bringing them to hear Hadyn play it.