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Minuet from Symphony No. 100 "Military"

Joseph Haydn (1732–1809) · sheet music

  • Time 3/4
  • Levels 2–9
  • Passages 3

Your turn · both hands

 

 

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Joseph Haydn, Austrian classical (1732–1809). The reading release has 3 passages from this piece at levels 2–9; the reader above opens on the easiest, bars 25–28 for the left hand alone.

Practice the hard bars →

The hardest stretch is bars 5–10 at level 9.

Your practice path

Learn it the way teachers do: each hand on its own, then together, then the hard bars. Each step is a real graded passage of Minuet from Symphony No. 100 "Military".

  1. Left hand alone · bars 25–28 level 2
  2. Hands together · bars 5–8 level 8
  3. The hardest bars · bars 5–10 level 9

How to play Minuet from Symphony No. 100 "Military"

  1. Tempo:Haydn asks for Moderato, so choose a pace where the four quick notes of the turn stay clear and the three beats feel like a measured court dance, not a waltz.
  2. Right hand:Play the four-note turn lightly and land on the following quarter notes with a short, firm touch, so the figure sounds like one gesture.
  3. Left hand:The left hand mostly plays short three-note chords on the beat; keep them even and detached, like the strings accompanying the tune.
  4. Hands together:In the middle section the left hand takes over the running eighths while the right hand holds chords or plays the turn, so practice each of those spots slowly with hands together.
  5. Reading:Before playing, find the rising half-step line in the opening theme and name each sharp and flat, since it moves through G sharp and B flat in quick succession.
  6. Dynamics:Use the printed louds and softs to separate the bold opening statement from the gentler moments, as Haydn contrasts loud and soft versions of the theme in the orchestra.
  7. Practice:Isolate the turn figure and repeat it on its own until it is even, then put it back in place, starting from the beat before it.

Common mistakes

  • Rushing the four quick notes so they blur into the next beat. Fix: Count the beat in sixteenths and place each of the four notes exactly before landing on the quarter note.
  • Missing a sharp or flat in the rising chromatic line. Fix: Play the line slowly while saying each note name aloud until the half steps are automatic.
  • Holding the left-hand chords too long, which makes the dance sound heavy. Fix: Release each chord on time and keep the staccato marks short but not snatched.

Structure: minuet (rounded binary)

In the symphony the minuet has an opening section in G major, a second section that modulates to D major, a link over a held D in the bass, and a return of the opening theme, followed by a trio. This piano version keeps the opening theme, the move to D major and the return, without the trio.

A · Opening theme (G major)
Four quick notes spring into two steady beats, and the melody then climbs by half steps in even eighths. Read the accidentals in the rising line and the dark diminished chord under the second phrase.
B · Turn to D major (D major)
The turn figure passes over held chords and the left hand takes over the running eighths. Watch for C sharps as the music settles toward D major.
A · Return of the theme (G major)
The opening comes back in G major and ends with a firm cadence. It is a chance to play the familiar music more confidently than the first time.

About Minuet from Symphony No. 100 "Military"

The music on this page is a piano version of the minuet from Haydn's Symphony No. 100, nicknamed the Military. It is the eighth of the twelve symphonies he wrote for London, and it was first played at the Hanover Square Rooms on 31 March 1794, with Haydn leading from the fortepiano.

By the 1790s Haydn usually pushed his minuets toward a quicker tempo, but here he marked the dance Moderato, giving it an older, courtly bearing. The whole movement is built from two small ideas heard at the start: a group of four quick notes leading into two plain beats, and a line of eighth notes that climbs by half steps.

This arrangement keeps the minuet's main sections, the opening theme, a second part that moves toward D major and the return of the theme, and leaves out the orchestral trio.

  • The Military nickname comes from the trumpets and the Turkish-style triangle, cymbals and bass drum that Haydn uses in the second movement and at the end of the finale.
  • In the orchestral score the opening quick notes are written as a small grace note plus three notes, but they are played as four equal sixteenths.
  • Rather than repeat the first section with a sign, Haydn wrote the repeat out so he could change its dynamics and scoring.

Why the first passage is level 2

That passage is level 2 rather than 1 because it leaps a minor third, it is in 3/4, not 4/4, it has dotted rhythms.

A courtly dance in three beats. Read the quick four-note turn as one unit and track the accidentals in the rising line.

Questions about Minuet from Symphony No. 100 "Military"

How hard is Minuet from Symphony No. 100 "Military" to play?
Its passages grade from level 2 to level 9 on Real Sight Reader's ten-level reading scale, so the full piece is intermediate to advanced reading. The hardest stretch is bars 5–10 at level 9.
Is there an easy part of Minuet from Symphony No. 100 "Military" for beginners?
Yes. Start with bars 25–28 for the left hand alone, the level-2 passage in the reader at the top of this page; it is level 2 because it leaps a minor third and it is in 3/4, not 4/4.
What key and time signature is Minuet from Symphony No. 100 "Military" in?
The engraving on this page is in 3/4 time.
Who composed Minuet from Symphony No. 100 "Military"?
Joseph Haydn, Austrian classical (1732–1809). The music on this page is a piano version of the minuet from Haydn's Symphony No.
Can I practice Minuet from Symphony No. 100 "Military" online for free?
Yes. The reader on this page plays any of the 3 graded passages from Minuet from Symphony No. 100 "Military" in your browser, with an on-screen keyboard or a MIDI keyboard, and marks every note as you play. No signup.
Which Haydn minuet is this?
The music on this page is the minuet theme from Haydn's Symphony No. 100 in G major, the Military, arranged for piano without the trio.
Why is it called the Military Symphony?
The name refers to its trumpets and Turkish-style percussion, which give the second movement and the end of the finale a marching-band sound.
Is the Military Symphony minuet in the public domain?
Yes. Haydn's music is long out of copyright, though a particular modern edition or arrangement can have its own rights.

Every passage, easiest first

The reading release grades 3 distinct passages of this piece. Open any of them in the reader:

Level 2
bars 25–28 left hand
Level 8
bars 5–8 both hands
Level 9
bars 5–10 both hands

More pieces to sight-read

Score: public-domain engraving from the corpus (pdmx), graded by the piano-reading-v2-20261023-identity-audit reading release.

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