blog




  • Essay / Analysis of the piano sonatas of Franz Joseph Haydn

    Franz Joseph Haydn was an Austrian who was one of the most important classical composers of the 18th century. He was born on March 31, 1732 and died on May 31, 1809. He wrote 104 symphonies, 32 piano trios, 62 piano sonatas and more than 90 string quartets. His contributions to the musical form earned him the epithets "Father of the Symphony" and "Father of the String Quartet." When he was young, he was sent for musical training when his parents discovered his musical talent. He grew up to be a very talented singer and instrumentalist. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on 'Why violent video games should not be banned'?Get the original essayHaydn spent much of his career as court musician for the wealthy Esterházy family at their secluded estate. In 1761 he began serving the Esterházy family for almost three decades. Haydn composed symphonies, string quartets, chamber music and court operas. He frequently traveled to Vienna for work and met Mozart during his trip. The men developed a close relationship and found inspiration in each other's works. Haydn was the most natural and kind man. His legendary humor was combined with a true compatriot's sense of the realities of life. Her optimistic character allows her to accept without bitterness the obstacles and frustrations of her life as a liveried servant. Later in life he accepted the honors bestowed upon him with sincere pleasure and without any trace of vanity. Haydn wrote 62 piano sonatas. Most of them were written in his early years. He was not a pianist, only three of his piano sonatas were written in the last 20 years of his life. Most of his sonatas followed a rigid three-movement structure. He also wrote 9 sonatas with only two movements and 2 sonatas with four movements. Most of them were written in major keys and only 7 of them were in minor keys. The melodic development is magnificent. However, only a small portion of the sonatas contained virtuoso passages, and some of them seem rather simple. This doesn't take away from their musicality, but it may explain why Haydn's piano sonatas are not played very often. In his first sonatas, certain passages are inspired by violin technique, there are imitations of stringed instruments inside. It has been said that Haydn first conceived his early works in the context of the string ensemble, and later adapted his ideas to the keyboard. Haydn's "typical" first movement does not exist. In each of them he embarks on a new adventure of structure and style, encompassing every variety of mood imaginable, from the challenge of No. 40 in E flat major and No. 47 in B minor, to to the refinement and expressive grace of No. 54 in E flat major. G major. The mood generally changed wildly almost from one measure to the next, between pathetic exuberance and grandeur as in the 1st movement of No. 60 in C major. His recapitulations are rarely mere restatements, but demonstrate his compelling need to continue "working" on his material. Again, he used the formality of the minuet as a vehicle for all manner of textual experimentation, and his minor trios are often finely expressive. Bailie (1989) spoke of Haydn's ancestry, the possibility that Haydn was of Croatian rather than German origin, and the folk influences he naturally absorbed from the mixed races and cultures of his native region near the Austro-Hungarian border. These influences are perhapsmost evident in its finales, which are usually full of sparkle and often uproarious "country" humor, abundant in its typically irregular phrase lengths, stomping, swirling, or dance-like "churning" rhythms. There are some style issues. for Haydn in the writing of his sonatas. In his early sonata works, as in the harpsichord era, there are no dynamic signs. The first use of dynamic markings appears in Hob. XVI: 35-39 and XVI: 20 in C published in 1780, which were influenced by the pianoforte. Later, when he became accustomed to the capabilities of the new instruments, sound gradations such as crescendo or decrescendo were implied by the form of the phrase in the sonata. The sudden loud or piano is indeed Haydn's characteristic. Haydn's frequent sforzatos must be treated in a sharp forte passage, a sharp, firm, even biting accent. Syncopated sforzatos sometimes appear in the later Sonatas with a Beethovenian persistence. For example, this was found in the first movement of No. 60 in C major, bars 76-80. Furthermore, a sforzato during a melody line in a pianistic context is more likely to indicate a slight emphasis – a "pressing" or slight "holding" of certain notes, important to the formation and expressive meaning of the sentence. For example, in the slow movement of Sonata No. 60 in C major in measures 9 to 10, the sixteenth notes accented in the left hand, in the right hand and again in the left hand. Haydn's rhythmic figuration is complex. Breezy walking rhythms and vigorous stomping figures abound in his styles. He preferred the use of dotted rhythms in solemnity or in passages of high dramatic tension. Triplets are used freely, particularly in some of the early minuets. For example, in Sonata No. 1 in G major, the dotted rhythm and triplet figures alternate throughout the first movement. To play Haydn's rhythm, we must walk, dance, wave our arms, and do anything that has a physical rhythm in order to feel the right pulse. Haydn used the minuet structure to wonderfully expressive effect. It is important to remember that a minuet is a dance rhythm, whether the minuet or trio is vigorous, or even stomping as in Sonata No. 47 in B minor. Haydn was innovative and unconstrained, frequently employing irregular sentence lengths. The rule for understanding the length of a phrase is to sing it. We will then know how and when they begin and end, and how they are shaped. Feeling the forward movement in sentence subdivision is also important. For example at the beginning of the first movement of Sonata No. 2 in C major, the 3 opening chords are played vigorously, rhythmically and "continuously", do not feel "stopped" on the chord at the 1st beat of bar 2. Sonata No. 62 in E flat major (Hob.XVI/52) is the most imposing and virtuoso of all Haydn's Sonatas. The first movement, similar to a fantasy in the extent of its rhythmic and pianistic figuration, of such grandeur and immutability of conception. The dotted rhythm existed at the beginning of the first movement, and is found throughout the movement. In order to perform this dotted rhythm in the style of 18th century music, the dotted eighth note must be lengthened beyond its notated value while the sixteenth note is shortened. The strategy for practicing this dotted rhythm is to practice slowly, counting the dotted rhythm accurately, instead of doubling the dots and “tripling” to create a more lively rhythm. After playing the dotted quarter note, lift your hand slightly and let it bounce.