Classical Music | Piano Music

Franz Joseph Haydn

Sonata No. 47 in B minor Hob. XVI: 32  Play

Victor Goldberg Piano

Recorded on 11/23/2011, uploaded on 04/12/2012

Musician's or Publisher's Notes

 

The B Minor Sonata is one of only four instrumental works Haydn composed in that key and in the stylistic movement known as Sturm und Drang (Storm and Stress). Designed to elicit an intense emotional response in the performer or listener, the music of this movement often used minor keys, wide interval leaps, and syncopated rhythms. The first movement is written in textbook sonata form. The Mozartean second movement is one of the most delicate and graceful pieces Haydn ever wrote; it is a minuet and trio that contrast the upper and lower ranges of the keyboard, and major and minor modalities. The agitated Presto is a toccata-like movement that virtually creates itself from its opening repeated-note motive, while fiercely dramatic pauses add to an effect of distraction.      Victor Goldberg