Zoltán Kodály composed Háry János, an opera in four acts, which became his most popular work. Háry János was a real man who liked to sit around at the village inn telling tales of his youth. One of those tales had him defeating Napoleons army all by himself. From the music of the opera, Kodály, composed the orchestral Háry János Suite, one of the more popular pieces in the classical repertoire. Both the suite and the opera begin with a musical sneeze. Kodály best describes a musical sneeze: According to Hungarian superstition, if a statement is followed by a sneeze of one of the hearers, it is regarded as confirmation of its truth. The Suite begins with a sneeze of this kind! One of Hárys group of faithful listeners&sneezes at the wildest assertions of the old tale-spinner. Kodály also states that Háry János is the personification of the Hungarian story-telling imagination. He does not tell lies; he imagines stories; he is a poet. What he tells us may never have happened, but he has experienced it in spirit, so it more real than reality.

The movements of the Háry János Suite are as follows:
1. Prelude; the Fairy Tale Begins
2. Viennese Musical Clock
3. Song
4. The Battle and Defeat of Napoleon
5. Intermezzo
6. Entrance of the Emperor and His Court

This arrangement for Horn Sextet is of the 2nd movement of the Háry János Suite, the Viennese Musical Clock. In this movement, Háry János is remembering the clock that struck noon at the court of the Austrian emperor, Napoleon. At that moment, the doors opened and a procession of clockwork soldiers would march out.

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