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Piano Sonata in D major Hob. XVI:37
F.J. Haydn (1732 – 1809)
Mozart’s great mentor Franz Joseph Haydn wrote over 50 piano sonatas as well as several shorter piano pieces. Most were written in the first part of his life, and vie for fame and favour with the many fine works of his maturity, among them many of the symphonies and string quartets. Unlike Mozart he was not a pianist, but nevertheless many of his sonatas show a good deal of daring and experimentation.
In 1780 Artaria published a set of six piano sonatas by Haydn, dedicated to the sisters Caterina and Marianna Auenbrugger, daughters of Leopold von Auenbrugger. The two girls were talented performers, and had been noticed by Leopold Mozart in 1773. They also had a connection with Salieri, as the girls’ father provided a German opera libretto for him in 1781. This sonata is one of the six and one of the three seemingly newly composed for the set, published for performance on the harpsichord or fortepiano.
This sonata gives scope for a certain amount of brilliance in its opening theme and the following transition, as well as in the contrasted second subject. This material is developed prior to the return of the first subject and key. The middle slow movement, a Largo e sostenuto in D minor, is very short, introducing a rapid finale (marked Presto ma non troppo). This movement also bears the instruction innocentemente, an apt indication of the character of the principal theme. It serves to punctuate a D minor and a G major episode, before re-appearing in a final ebullient section.
Haydn: Piano Sonata in D major Hob. XVI:37
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