Haydn: 48 Piano Sonatas

Summary:

“both ambitious and curious … the experience for the listener is raw and unflinchingly intimate” – BBC Music Magazine

“An illuminating survey of the Haydn piano sonatas … sincere musicality, technical finesse and a personal point of view … no small achievement … witty to the point of zany. Haydn would have approved!” - Gramophone

“Mysterious beauty … Daniel-Ben Pienaar introduces his recorded cycle of 48 Haydn piano sonatas, which casts fresh light on the composer’s musical style and personality … [His] focus is on (micro)-details of nuance, gesture, accentuation, tactus and touch” – International Piano Magazine

“[Stimulating and Delightful are] apt descriptions of this boxed set as a whole. There is much delight to be discovered in the piano music of Haydn, and this set offers the music lover a way to sit back and dig in. Whether one might want to methodically work their way through the whole set from start to finish or instead randomly listen to a few selections here and there while perusing the CD booklet for background information, this release offers those opportunities in a package of excellent quality.” - Classical Candour

Autumn 2020 offered Daniel-Ben Pienaar an opportunity, not because the world was in lockdown but rather for the benefit it provided. A professor at London’s Royal Academy of Music, Daniel-Ben was allowed overnight access to the RAM’s Angela Burgess Hall. Solitary, with a Steinway and a single pair of suspended omni-directional microphones, surrounded by silence and the darkness of the night, Daniel-Ben recorded this inspired eight-CD set of Haydn’s Piano Sonatas over a four-month period.

Daniel-Ben’s choice of Haydn’s 48 Piano Sonatas is based on his own meticulous research. The cycle comprises authenticated works plus earlier compositions presumed by scholars to be penned by Haydn.

This deluxe box set follows in the footsteps of Daniel-Ben Pienaar’s acclaimed surveys of sonatas by Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert.

This cycle comprises Haydn’s 39 authenticated multi-movement solo keyboard works from 1765 onwards (all called Sonatas here, using modern nomenclature), and nine earlier works (CD8) that are presumed his, or probably his, by the vast majority of scholars.

Careful detective work on the authenticity of a number of works from Haydn’s youth is still evolving, but I have limited my cycle to works that are included in Anthony van Hoboken’s and Christa Landon’s lists of Sonatas, except fragments, works that have conclusively been shown not to be by Haydn and those over which significant doubts are raised.

Early works found in Hoboken’s and/or Landon’s catalogues, but not included as part of this cycle are:

• L. 21–27 (Hob. XVI:2) – These seven Sonatas, for which we have incipits, were lost, probably in a fire.
• L. 17–18 (Hob. deest), L.8 (Hob. XVI:5), L.10 (Hob. XVI:1) – Severe doubts exist as to their authenticity.
• L. 57 – This has been shown not to be authentic. It includes two movements from L.19 (Hob. XVI:47), transposed up a semi-tone.
• L. 28 (Hob. XIV:5), L.5 (Hob. XVI:11) – These works exist only as fragments.
• Hob. XVI:15 – This is an arrangement, not by Haydn, of the Divertimento in C Hob. II:11
• Hob. XVI:16 – Severe doubts exist as to its authenticity.
• Hob. XVI:17 – This is by Johann Gottfried Schwanenberger.

Tracklist:

Joseph Haydn (1732–1809)

Four early Sonatas (listed in Haydn’s Entwurf-Katalog of 1765)
Six Sonatas (1765–1772)
Six Sonatas dedicated to Prince Nikolaus Esterházy (c.1773, published in 1774)
Six Sonatas (1774–?76)
Six Sonatas dedicated to Katharina and Marianna Auenbrugger (published in 1780)
Three Sonatas (published in London in 1783)
Three Sonatas for Princess Maria Esterházy (published in 1784)
Two Sonatas (1789–90)
Three English Sonatas (1794–95)

Addendum: Nine early Sonatas widely presumed to be by Haydn
Bonus: Variations in F minor (1793)

CD1: 75.28

Four early Sonatas (listed in Haydn’s Entwurfkatalog of 1765)

Sonata in D Hob. XVI:4 L.9
1. I. [Moderato] 3.00
2. II. Menuet – Trio 2.07

Sonata in G Hob. XVI:6 L.13
3. I. Allegro 3.58
4. II. Menuet – Trio 4.00
5. III. Adagio 4.14
6. IV. Finale: Allegro molto 1.44

Sonata in C Hob. XVI:3 L.14
7. I. Allegretto 2.06
8. II. Andante 2.36
9. III. Menuet – Trio 2.22

Sonata in D Hob. XVI:14 L.16
10. I. Allegro moderato 3.48
11. II. Menuet – Trio 3.44
12. III. Finale: Presto 2.40

Six Sonatas (1765–1772)

Sonata in E minor Hob. XVI:47bis L.19
13. I. Adagio – 5.40
14. II. Allegro 3.19
15. III. Finale: Tempo di menuet 3.52

Sonata in B flat Hob. XVI:18 L.20
16. I. Allegro moderato 5.04
17. II. Moderato 5.32

Sonata in E flat Hob. XVI:45 L.29
18. I. Moderato 7.13
19. II. Andante 5.37
20. III. Finale: Allegro di molto 2.44

CD2: 73.53

Sonata in D Hob. XVI:19 L.30
1. I. Moderato 7.42
2. II. Andante 9.19
3. III. Finale: Allegro assai 2.55

Sonata in A flat Hob. XVI:46 L.31
4. I. Allegro moderato 7.26
5. II. Adagio 8.28
6. III. Finale: Presto 2.37

Sonata in G minor Hob. XVI:44, L32
7. I. Moderato 6.56
8. II. Allegretto 3.51

Six Sonatas dedicated to Prince Nikolaus Esterhazy (c.1773, published in 1774)

Sonata in C Hob. XVI:21 L.36
9. I. Allegro moderato 6.06
10. II. Adagio 3.47
11. III. Finale: Presto 2.01

Sonata in E Hob. XVI:22 L.37
12. I. Allegro moderato 5.25
13. II. Andante 3.21
14. III. Finale: Tempo di menuetto 3.53

CD3: 67.35

Sonata in F Hob. XVI:23 L.38
15. I. 4.44
16. II. Adagio 5.51
17. III. Finale: Presto 2.47

Sonata in D Hob. XVI:24 L.39
18. I. Allegro 4.54
19. II. Adagio – 4.02
20. III. Finale: Presto 2.23

Sonata in E flat Hob. XVI:25 L.40
21. I. Moderato 5.53
22. II. Tempo di menuet 2.22

Sonata in A Hob. XVI:26 L.41
23. I. Allegro moderato 6.37
24. II. Menuet al rovescio – Trio (al rovescio) 2.14
25. III. Finale: Presto 0.49

Six Sonatas (1774–?76)

Sonata in G Hob. XVI:27 L.42
26. I. Allegro con brio 3.51
27. II. Menuet 4.43
28. III. Finale: Presto 3.02

Sonata in E flat Hob. XVI:28 L.43
29. I. Allegro moderato 6.10
30. II. Minuet 3.48
31. III. Finale: Presto 3.21

CD4: 78.42

Sonata in F Hob. XVI:29 L.44
1. I. Moderato 4.39
2. II. Adagio 5.05
3. III. Tempo di menuet 4.30

Sonata in A Hob. XVI:30 L.45
4. I. Allegro – 5.11
5. II. Adagio – 1.34
6. III. Tempo di menuet 6.52

Sonata in E Hob. XVI:31 L.46
7. I. Moderato 4.54
8. II. Allegretto 3.23
9. III. Finale: Presto 2.07

Sonata in B minor Hob. XVI:32 L.47
10. I. Allegro moderato 4.29
11. II. Menuet 4.25
12. III. Finale: Presto 3.03

Six Sonatas dedicated to Katherina and Marianne Auenbrugger (published in 1780)

Sonata in C Hob. XVI:35 L.48
13. I. Allegro con brio 5.13
14. II. Adagio 6.34
15. III. Finale: Allegro 2.59

Sonata in C sharp minor Hob. XVI:36 L.49
16. I. Moderato 6.38
17. II. Scherzando: Allegro con brio 3.33
18. III. Menuet: Moderato 3.28

CD5: 66.14

Sonata in D Hob. XVI:37 L.50
1. I. Allegro con brio 3.56
2. II. Largo e sostenuto – 3.12
3. III. Finale: Presto ma non troppo 3.04

Sonata in E flat Hob. XVI:38 L.51
4. I. Allegro moderato 5.15
5. II. Adagio – 4.38
6. III. Finale: Allegro 2.38

Sonata in G Hob. XVI:39 L.52
7. I. Allegro con brio 4.41
8. II. Adagio 6.21
9. III. Finale: Presto 3.01

Sonata in C minor Hob. XVI:20 L.33
10. I. Moderato 7.45
11. II. Andante con moto 5.45
12. III. Finale: Allegro 4.25

Three Sonatas (published in London in 1783)

Sonata in A flat Hob. XVI:43 L.35
13. I. Moderato 4.42
14. II. Menuetto – Trio 2.20
15. III. Rondo: Presto 4.27

CD6: 75.28

Sonata in D Hob. XVI:33 L.34
1. I. Allegro 7.04
2. II. Adagio – 4.08
3. III. Tempo di menuet 3.52

Sonata in E minor Hob. XVI:34 L.53
4. I. Presto 3.41
5. II. Adagio – 6.20
6. III. Vivace molto 3.36

Three Sonatas for Princess Marie Esterhazy (published in 1784)

Sonata in G Hob. XVI:40 L.54
7. I. Allegretto innocente 6.43
8. II. Presto 3.14

Sonata in B flat Hob. XVI:41 L.55
9. I. Allegro 5.40
10. II. Allegro di molto 2.26

Sonata in D Hob. XVI:42 L.56
11. I. Andante con espressione 12.04
12. II. Vivace assai 1.36

Two Sonatas (1789–90)

Sonata in C Hob. XVI:48 L.58
13. I. Andante con espressione 10.50
14. II. Rondo: Presto 4.10

CD7: 65.00

Sonata in E flat Hob. XVI:49 L.59
1. I. Allegro 7.11
2. II. Adagio e cantabile 9.31
3. II. Finale: Tempo di minuet 4.12

Three English Sonatas (1794–95)

Sonata in E flat Hob. XVI:52 L.62
4. I. Allegro 8.13
5. II. Adagio 7.54
6. III. Finale: Presto 5.22

Sonata in C Hob. XVI:50 L.60
7. I. Allegro 7.49
8. II. Adagio 6.25
9. III. Allegro molto 2.28

Sonata in D Hob. XVI:51 L.61
10. I. Andante 3.44
11. II. Finale: Presto 2.08

CD8: 75.12

Addendum: Nine early Sonatas widely presumed to be by Haydn

Sonata in C Hob. XVI:7 L.2
1. I. Allegro moderato 1.05
2. II. Menuet – Trio 1.56
3. III. Finale: Allegro 1.17

Sonata in G Hob. XVI:8 L.1
4. I. Allegro 2.28
5. II. Menuet 0.58
6. III. Andante 0.59
7. IV. Allegro 0.34

Sonata in F Hob. XVI:9 L.3
8. I. Allegro 1.43
9. II. Menuet – Trio 2.36
10. III. Scherzo: Allegro 0.45

Sonata in C Hob. XVI:10 L.6
11. I. Moderato 2.13
12. II. Menuet – Trio 2.21
13. III. Finale: Presto 1.58

Sonata in G Hob. XVI:G1 L.4
14. I. Allegro 2.40
15. II. Menuetto – Trio 2.34
16. III. Finale: Presto 1.32

Sonata in D Hob. XVII:D1 L.7
17. I. Tema with Variations 3.35
18. II. Menuet 0.37
19. III. Finale: Allegro 1.11

Sonata in A Hob. XVI:12 L.12
20. I. Andante 3.00
21. II. Menuet – Trio 3.01
22. III. Finale: Allegro molto 1.15

Sonata in E Hob. XVI:13 L.15
23. I. Moderato 3.17
24. II. Menuet – Trio 2.38
25. III. Finale: Presto 1.45

Sonata in B flat Hob. XVI:2 L.11
26. I. Moderato 5.14
27. II. Largo 5.24
28. III. Menuet – Trio 3.59

Bonus

29. Variations in F minor Hob. XVII:6 12.27

Daniel-Ben Pienaar, piano

Recording: 13, 26 September, 17 October, 14, 21 November, 9–11 December 2020, Angela Burgess Hall, Royal Academy of Music, London. Mapping and editing: Daniel-Ben Pienaar · Mastering: Adaq Khan

The recording took place in a series of over-night sessions during late 2020, with no engineer or producer present. A single pair of suspended omni-directional microphones was used.

Catalogue

Summary:

Tracklist:

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