F.J.Haydn 1732 – 1909 was an Austrian composer who is identified with the classical period in music history. The four movements of the sonata comprise an Allegro, Minuet Andante and a concludes with a brisk Allegro. The tempo of the movements in the realisation are 80, 110, 68 and 80 bpm. The first movement tempo is quite slow for an Allegro. The music dates from 1766 but was not published until 1895. Little use of the sustaining pedal is suggested. To understand how the ornaments are played visit the PlentyMusic Co YouTube channel and watch the sheet music video. This movement would have been played on the harpsichord at the time it was written. Working in isolation in Hungary for the Esterházy family he was in his own words. “forced to become original.” Haydn’s music is catalogued by Hoboken numbers. Whilst this early keyboard sonata is notated on just 3 pages of sheet music Haydn’s later piano sonatas are substantial works often nearer 20 of music pages suggesting that he was one of the first composers to expand the musical forms used in his day. Haydn was an important influence on many composers who succeeded him particularly Beethoven.
