Joseph Haydn 2024

For many decades the orchestras of the German broadcasting service SWR have worked together with many famous musicians from all over the world, including the outstanding pianists selected for this collection, among them Clara Haskil, Jörg Demus, Paul Badura-Skoda, Alicia de Larrocha, Wilhelm Backhaus, and Géza Anda. Furthermore, Chilean pianist Claudio Arrau (1903-1991) is regarded as one of the supreme keyboard masters of the 20th century and must feature in any comparative survey of performances of the central repertoire from Beethoven to Brahms.

In popular mythology Haydn’s name is far less closely associated with the piano sonata than with the string quartet or symphony. Though a more than competent pianist (one writer in London described his playing of the brilliant fortepiano solo in the Symphony No 98 as ‘neat and distinct’), he was by his own admission no ‘wizard’ on the keyboard, and unlike Mozart and Beethoven never wrote sonatas for his own performance. Yet the keyboard remained central to Haydn’s creative process. His morning routine would invariably begin with him trying out ideas, for whatever medium, on the clavichord, the harpsichord or, from the 1780s, the fortepiano; and he composed prolifically for keyboard through most of his adult life, beginning with the harpsichord works he produced for aristocratic pupils during his ‘galley years’ in Vienna and culminating in the three great sonatas (Nos 50–52 in Hoboken’s catalogue) inspired by the sonorous Broadwood instruments he encountered on his London visits.

In popular mythology Haydn’s name is far less closely associated with the piano sonata than with the string quartet or symphony. Though a more than competent pianist (one writer in London described his playing of the brilliant fortepiano solo in the Symphony No 98 as ‘neat and distinct’), he was by his own admission no ‘wizard’ on the keyboard, and unlike Mozart and Beethoven never wrote sonatas for his own performance. Yet the keyboard remained central to Haydn’s creative process. His morning routine would invariably begin with him trying out ideas, for whatever medium, on the clavichord, the harpsichord or, from the 1780s, the fortepiano; and he composed prolifically for keyboard through most of his adult life, beginning with the harpsichord works he produced for aristocratic pupils during his ‘galley years’ in Vienna and culminating in the three great sonatas (Nos 50–52 in Hoboken’s catalogue) inspired by the sonorous Broadwood instruments he encountered on his London visits.

In popular mythology Haydn’s name is far less closely associated with the piano sonata than with the string quartet or symphony. Though a more than competent pianist (one writer in London described his playing of the brilliant fortepiano solo in the Symphony No 98 as ‘neat and distinct’), he was by his own admission no ‘wizard’ on the keyboard, and unlike Mozart and Beethoven never wrote sonatas for his own performance. Yet the keyboard remained central to Haydn’s creative process. His morning routine would invariably begin with him trying out ideas, for whatever medium, on the clavichord, the harpsichord or, from the 1780s, the fortepiano; and he composed prolifically for keyboard through most of his adult life, beginning with the harpsichord works he produced for aristocratic pupils during his ‘galley years’ in Vienna and culminating in the three great sonatas (Nos 50–52 in Hoboken’s catalogue) inspired by the sonorous Broadwood instruments he encountered on his London visits.

In popular mythology Haydn’s name is far less closely associated with the piano sonata than with the string quartet or symphony. Though a more than competent pianist (one writer in London described his playing of the brilliant fortepiano solo in the Symphony No 98 as ‘neat and distinct’), he was by his own admission no ‘wizard’ on the keyboard, and unlike Mozart and Beethoven never wrote sonatas for his own performance. Yet the keyboard remained central to Haydn’s creative process. His morning routine would invariably begin with him trying out ideas, for whatever medium, on the clavichord, the harpsichord or, from the 1780s, the fortepiano; and he composed prolifically for keyboard through most of his adult life, beginning with the harpsichord works he produced for aristocratic pupils during his ‘galley years’ in Vienna and culminating in the three great sonatas (Nos 50–52 in Hoboken’s catalogue) inspired by the sonorous Broadwood instruments he encountered on his London visits.

In popular mythology Haydn’s name is far less closely associated with the piano sonata than with the string quartet or symphony. Though a more than competent pianist (one writer in London described his playing of the brilliant fortepiano solo in the Symphony No 98 as ‘neat and distinct’), he was by his own admission no ‘wizard’ on the keyboard, and unlike Mozart and Beethoven never wrote sonatas for his own performance. Yet the keyboard remained central to Haydn’s creative process. His morning routine would invariably begin with him trying out ideas, for whatever medium, on the clavichord, the harpsichord or, from the 1780s, the fortepiano; and he composed prolifically for keyboard through most of his adult life, beginning with the harpsichord works he produced for aristocratic pupils during his ‘galley years’ in Vienna and culminating in the three great sonatas (Nos 50–52 in Hoboken’s catalogue) inspired by the sonorous Broadwood instruments he encountered on his London visits.