I'm positive that I'd probably been introduced, in passing at least, to classical music in my youth but my first experience with truly hearing and taking in the classics was in a Comparative Civilizations class in high school. Mr. Meyerhoff was a lover of the arts: music, art, film (I still see him at the Vancouver International Film Festival every year) and it was he that really introduced me to classical music. I went from hearing it in passing to actively searching it out.

I don't play an instrument and wouldn't even consider myself a connoisseur of the music but I do know what I like and having recently taken in more than a passing amount of the classicals, I thought it might be fun to share some of my favourites. For the next few weeks I'll occasionally share one of my favourite tunes starting today.

The first entry into my "Classical Music for Those that Don't Know Any Better" series features the second movement from Franz Joseph Haydn's Symphony No. 94. Be sure to listen before moving on because I sort of spoil it after the video.

This is one of those works where you can never really re-live what it was like the first time you heart it. I remember jumping a few feet out of my chair the first time I heard it and though I still love the movement, particularly the flourishing middle portion where I can't help but conduct my own invisible orchestra, I love the expectation of the surprise; it's the anticipation that I love most. Surprise Symphony is an accurate description.