Franz Joseph Haydn is the composer who, more than any
other, epitomizes the aims and achievements of the
Classical era. Perhaps his most important achievement
was that he developed and evolved in countless subtle
ways the most influential structural principle in the
history of music: his perfection of the set of
expectations known as sonata form made an epochal
impact. In hundreds of instrumental sonatas, string
quartets, and symphonies, Haydn both broke new ground
and provided durable models; i...(+)
Franz Joseph Haydn is the composer who, more than any
other, epitomizes the aims and achievements of the
Classical era. Perhaps his most important achievement
was that he developed and evolved in countless subtle
ways the most influential structural principle in the
history of music: his perfection of the set of
expectations known as sonata form made an epochal
impact. In hundreds of instrumental sonatas, string
quartets, and symphonies, Haydn both broke new ground
and provided durable models; indeed, he was among the
creators of these fundamental genres of classical
music. His influence upon later composers is
immeasurable; Haydn's most illustrious pupil,
Beethoven, was the direct beneficiary of the elder
master's musical imagination, and Haydn's shadow lurks
within (and sometimes looms over) the music of
composers like Schubert, Mendelssohn, and Brahms.
Until Beethoven, the piano sonata was not composed as a
vehicle for virtuoso technique -- that was the domain
of the concerto -- but as entertainment for amateurs in
the privacy of their homes. Many such pieces were
written for students, often as something of an
exercise. Haydn had a number of students for whom he
composed piano sonatas, and the wide range of ability
among his students accounts for the disparate levels of
sophistication we find among the over 50 surviving
sonatas. Some of these works have been lost because
Haydn gave the manuscripts to his students without
making copies.
Two numbering schemes for the sonatas are commonly
used. Here, the pieces are sorted using the numbering
method proposed by H. C. Robbins Landon, while the
"Hob. XVI" specification refers to its index in the
Hoboken catalogue.
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