The fourth volume in Leon McCawley’s much-praised series of Franz Joseph Haydn’s Keyboard Sonatas. Six Sonatas spanning the years 1766-80 are featured: the earliest the miniature First Sonata in G major, the latest the E-flat major Sonata No. 51, while Robert Matthew-Walker’s fascinating booklet note charts how deftly Haydn balanced the expectations of others and his own creative ambition. “Intended more to entertain than engage the intellect”, the fleet, divertimento-like First Sonata seems to anticipate the pedagogical leanings of Bartók’s Mikrokosmos more than a century and half later.
With its unabashed galant style, the D major-led Sonata No. 30 is "Papa" Haydn at his most quicksilver brilliant and delightful, while Sonata No. 35, in A-flat major – “a masterpiece of piano writing” – displays striking characteristics of early Romanticism.
Composed with the enhanced voice of the then newly available fortepiano in mind, sibling Sonata No. 48 in C major and No. 49 in C-sharp minor maintain a winning Classical poise even as one surprise after another see Haydn pushing the sonata form in new and unexpected directions. © SOMM Recordings