The Keyboard Sonatas of Haydn and Mozart

I. Haydn

Haydn has a special preference for writing music in a bundle of six. Each of the six pieces has its individuality while sharing many common features at the same time. Haydn’s solo keyboard sonatas show striking diversity in type and style. They often could be categorized by their style periods and each of them reflects a corresponding social background.

Sonatas composed from 1773 to 1784 were intended as “public” works from the very beginning, with a clear conception of the taste, preferences, and instruments available to the musical public of Vienna. The Sonata in F Major, Hob. XVI: 23; L38 written in 1773 for solo harpsichord is the best known and most virtuosic of his set of six sonatas (Hob. XVI: 21-6). Haydn wrote the six sonatas for Prince Nicklaus Esterhбzy and they strictly follow the court-style. Sonata in F has three movements: Allegro moderato, Adagio (Larghetto) and Presto. The contrasting tempo and the fast motion between the fingers allow the player to give a virtuoso impression without acquiring over-demanding technique. In the opening movement, demanding 32nd-note passages create an improvisatory flavor. Haydn intentionally inserted a sequence of diminished 7th chords to make an unusual tonal appearance. The unique middle movement in F minor portrays a Baroque flavor. The finale is well-organized and filled with contrapuntal passages.

Nearly a decade later, Haydn wrote another six three-movement sonatas named the Auenbrugger sonatas. The composer himself had become acquainted with some talented Viennese amateur musicians. The Sonata in G Major, Hob. XVI: 29; L 52 was written in 1780 and with the rest of the set was dedicated to the Auenbrugger sisters. Although the sonata piece is in Haydn’s usual three movement style, he has secretly added in a number of new ingredients in each movement. The sonata begins with the Allegro con brio with lighthearted rondo variations. The most interesting aspect of this movements is that Haydn intentionally returned to the theme of the Sonata in C-sharp Minor, Hob. XVI: 36. However, the new movement includes two independent episodes, one in the tonic and the other in its relative minor. The Adagio movement is rich in ornamentation. A written-out cadenza is designed to for the trio. The finale Prestissimo returns to sonata form in a rocking 6/8 meter which is rare with Haydn. Overall, the sonata has shown a new Haydn who was interested in experimenting and non-repetitive from his previous works.

II. Mozart

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart had endless ideas for writing piano sonatas and like his other works, his sonata style has evolved dramatically over the years. His early works have been constantly compared with other well-known composers at the time. For example, it has been suggested that Haydn’s F Major Sonata, Hob. XVI: 23 as a model for Mozart’s K. 280 in the same key.

The C Major Sonata, K. 309 was written on November 8, 1777 for the fifteen-year-old Rosa Connabich who was the daughter of the leader of the Elector Karl Theodor’s famous Mannheim orchestra, Christian Cannabich. It was composed for solo piano. The three movements include Allegro con spirito, Andante un poco Adagio , and Rondo: Allegretto grazioso. The opening theme of the first movement uses a symmetrical paragraph of fourteen bars with seven measures each. It is followed by a pair of 3-bar balancing phrases. The slow movement also adapted the well balanced phrase structure at its exposition. This particular style was never unusual to musicians during the period. It has been used by many others including Josef Antonin Stepan whose Sonata no. 57 in E flat embraced almost identical elements as in Mozart’s C Major Sonata. However, Mozart made his own mark distinctively in various moments. For instance, in the second movement, there was a frequent alternation between two dynamics, piano and