Haydn, Franz Joseph 1732 - 1809
Author: Osaki, Shigemi
Last updated：January 1, 2010
Author: Osaki, Shigemi
1. Life and Keyboard Instruments
Franz [a name he usually did not use] Joseph Haydn was born on March 31, 1732, in Rohrau, a market town under the patronage of Count Harrach, located in what is now the easternmost part of Austria. Discovered for his beautiful voice, at the age of eight he was sent to a boarding school in Vienna as a boy chorister. He lived there for approximately 20 years, receiving his education in the city. After his voice broke, he was dismissed and left in the middle of the city. During the 1750s, he dedicated himself to self-study and began to make a name for himself. He attempted compositions in various genres, including his earliest string quartets, keyboard music, and Singspiele.
In the late 1750s, he was appointed Kapellmeister to Count Morzin, but was soon dismissed due to the Count's bankruptcy. However, shortly thereafter, in April 1761, he began serving as Vice-Kapellmeister to the Hungarian noble Esterházy family, who owned vast estates in the border region between present-day Austria and Hungary. He was entrusted with a newly established orchestra and began to produce symphonies and other works in large quantities.
In 1765, with the death of his predecessor, he was promoted to Kapellmeister, and dramatic and church music also came under his jurisdiction, making him responsible for all music required by the princely family. Information on the keyboard music (early works) composed around this time is scarce, and little can be stated definitively. Sonatas (Hob.XVI:18-19, 44-46) and Variations in G major (Hob.XVII:1), which are confirmed by autograph manuscripts or otherwise presumed to have been written between around 1765 and 1772, are thought to have met the demands of the Esterházy court.
Around 1770, he reached his first creative peak in opera, church music, symphonies, and string quartets. At the same time, in response to demands from outside the court, or from the Prince's perspective, to make his servant's fame known to the world, works in various genres began to be published.
The six keyboard sonatas (Hob.XVI:21-26) published by Kurzböck in Vienna in 1774 bear on their title page a dedication to Prince Nikolaus Esterházy, with whom Haydn maintained a strong master-servant relationship for nearly 30 years, serving as one testament to this progression. However, the collection of works grouped as the "Six Sonatas of 1776" (Hob.XVI:27-32) circulated in various places as manuscript copies rather than printed scores, demonstrating the popularity of Haydn's works among the upper classes of the time in another way.
When an opera house was completed within the court in 1775, opera and theatrical performances began to adorn the princely household in place of concerts, and Haydn faced the demanding work of an opera director. Concert works increasingly began to be disseminated outside the court, and the number of published scores significantly increased, with public demand for Haydn's works growing ever stronger. Keyboard music was no exception, and thereafter, works were widely received throughout Europe through publication.
Below is a list:
- Six sonatas (Hob.XVI:35-39, 20) published as Op. 30 by Artaria in Vienna in 1780.
- Three sonatas (Hob.XVI:43, 33, 34) published in London in 1783/84.
- Three sonatas (Hob.XVI:40-42) published in Speyer in 1784 and "dedicated to Princess Marie Esterházy (née Princess of Liechtenstein)" who had just married Nikolaus II Esterházy (grandson of Nikolaus I, whom Haydn served the longest, and who, after inheriting the family headship, welcomed Haydn back as Kapellmeister after his return from London).
- Concertos (Hob.XVIII:4, 11) published in Paris in 1784 [the latter also in Vienna simultaneously].
- Variations in A major and E-flat major (Hob.XVII:2-3), composed in the 1770s, circulated initially in manuscript copies, and then re-published in the late 1780s in response to strong demand for Haydn's keyboard music.
- Two sonatas (Hob.XVI:48-49) and two C major variations (Hob.XVII:4-5), each composed and published separately in 1789-90.
- Three sonatas (Hob.XVI:50-52) and Variations in F minor (Hob.XVII:6), written during his second stay in London in 1794-95 and published around 1800 in London and Vienna.
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2. Haydn and the Piano Sonata: Its Name and Instrument
Haydn's creative period coincides precisely with a transitional era in Western art music, moving from a time when it was received within court society and its periphery to a time when it began to be enjoyed at a civic level. Whether for symphonies or keyboard music, discussing their stylistic evolution purely in terms of music, detached from changes in the audience and the diversification of creative purpose, is meaningless. And in the case of the "piano sonata" genre, this period aligns with the shift of the target keyboard instrument from the harpsichord to the fortepiano, as well as the transformation of the partita into the sonata, in line with such social changes. While for Mozart this span was at most a little over a decade, for Haydn it extended for approximately forty years.
There is no doubt that Haydn wrote his earliest keyboard (clavier) sonatas for the "(clavi)cembalo." Reliable sources for the earliest sonatas are scarce, and identifying the very first works is inherently difficult. Nevertheless, the autograph manuscript of Hob.XVI:6, which is certainly quite early, and all the earliest traceable manuscript copies of various works that can be considered early sonatas (though believed to be from more than 20 years after their composition) specify "per il (Clavi)cembalo" (for the harpsichord), and given the customs of the time, there is no room for doubt. It must also be pointed out that at the same time, they were not called "Sonata." He began to write clavier sonatas under this name, definitively, in a sketch dated 1771 for Hob.XVI:20 (which is broadly a middle-period work), but he did not always title them "Sonata" thereafter. Around that time, or even earlier, he generally used the title "Divertimento per il (Clavi)cembalo" (Divertimento for the harpsichord). The term "Divertimento" was once mistranslated as "嬉遊曲" (kikyoku, meaning 'playful piece'), which led to a misunderstanding, as the word does not imply a musical character of "joyful play." In a situation where the overall understanding was still incomplete, there was an attempt to Japanese-ize Western terms as much as possible, leading to the creation of specific translations. In the mid-18th century around Vienna, "Divertimento" simply meant something like "piece," and it was a title given to both solo pieces and ensemble pieces such as string quartets.
However, in the autograph manuscript of Hob.XVI:6, believed to have been written in the earliest period, the 1750s, the title is "Partita per il Cembalo" (Partita for the Harpsichord), and the designation "Partita" is also frequently seen in later manuscript copies of some works that are also thought to be early sonatas. Since Hob.XVI:6's title was changed to "Divertimento" in Haydn's catalog of his own works (EK = Entwurf-Katalog), which he began compiling around 1765, it is thought that the name for clavier sonatas evolved from "Partita" to "Divertimento," and then eventually to "Sonata" around the mid-1770s. From this perspective, it seems that the customary establishment of the name "Sonata" for instrumental solo pieces itself occurred during Haydn's creative period. However, this is a phenomenon limited to the South German region, including the area around Vienna, while North and Central Germany, Italy, France, and England saw different developments.
Furthermore, differences in instrument names inevitably encompass differences in sound, timbre, expression, and playing technique, and thus must be considered separately from the naming of abstract concepts like "Sonata." It is certain that Haydn began writing clavier sonatas for the harpsichord and finished writing them for the piano, but what kind of harpsichord, and what kind of fortepiano, can only be discussed within the general context of that era. Moreover, there is a lack of definitive sources that can pinpoint when this transition occurred. Haydn's first mention of the piano is in a letter from 1788 (only the last five clavier sonatas were composed after this), but since very few of Haydn's letters before his trip to London (just before he turned 60) survive, bringing this up is not very meaningful. On the other hand, the Esterházy court, where Haydn served, had only harpsichords at least until 1780, and there is no evidence to suggest that the young instrument, the piano, had a strong influence around Vienna in the 1770s. Therefore, the three pieces Hob.XVI:40-42, published in 1784, might be the turning point.
However, it would be a great misunderstanding to simply divide Haydn's clavier sonatas into a "harpsichord era" and a "piano era," thinking that works up to a certain point should be played on the harpsichord, but subsequent works can be played on a modern piano. Firstly, the pianos of that era should be considered different instruments from modern pianos; they only have a direct connection in the history of instrument evolution in that they are based on the same principle and carry on the same name. Secondly, just as the indication "for harpsichord or fortepiano" was extremely common in printed scores (not merely to promote sales but also to socially indicate the interchangeability of instruments), it must be taken into account that in actual performances of the time, the correspondence between works and instruments was not as strict as we might imagine today. Furthermore, to encompass the fact that this genre is not limited to the "piano," it would be safer to collectively refer to them as "clavier sonatas."<toggle>
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3. Overview of Keyboard Works
3-1. [Arrangements of Ensemble Works]
Hob.XIV:5 (Hoboken old number) = Hob.XVI:5 bis (Hoboken new number) was considered a divertimento with clavier, featuring clavier, two violins, and cello, and was categorized under that genre number (Hob.XIV). However, in 1961, what appears to be part of an autograph manuscript for a clavier sonata was discovered. Since no other parts have been transmitted, the arrangement must be used as a reference for completion.
Hob.XVI:15 is an arrangement of the first, third, and fourth movements of the ensemble divertimento Hob.II:11 for clavier alone or for clavier and violin. Such arrangements exist only as printed scores from that period and are not considered genuine clavier sonatas.
3-2. [Different Versions of the Same Work]
Hob.XVI:47 exists in two different versions: the second and third movements of the F major version (Hob.XVI:47) correspond to the first and second movements of the E major version (Hob.XVI:47bis). Which version is the original? The earliest extant source for the F major version, with all movements matching, is the 1788 Artaria publication, while the E major version is transmitted in two earlier manuscript copies, giving the E major version a slight advantage. However, there is a third possibility: even if the E major version is the original as a clavier sonata, its peculiar movement order (slow-fast-fast), which is unique among his other clavier sonatas, suggests that the E major version itself might be an arrangement of a work from another genre (for example, string trios often have this same movement order, and baryton trios often have a similar movement structure of slow-fast-minuet). However, this remains a hypothesis.
Hob.XVI:11 and Hob.XVI:G1 are also different versions of the same piece. Päsler adopted the former, and Hoboken, following him, assigned the latter a number as a doubtful work. However, later research revealed that XVI:11 is a composite work, with the finale of XVI:G1 placed as its opening movement. The authenticity of the second and third movements of XVI:11 has not been satisfactorily verified.
3-3. [Works by Other Composers]
Regarding the evaluation of Hob.XVI:16, opinions are divided. The sole manuscript copy of this work, preserved in a castle in Harburg, Germany, appears at first glance to be a fairly high-quality source, but there is absolutely no documentation to confirm Haydn as the composer.
Hob.XVI:17, Steglich already pointed out in 1932 that the composer of this work was Johann Gottfried Schwanenberger (or Schwanberger or Schwanberg).
Hob.XVI:Es2 and Es3 were newly discovered by Feder in Brno, Slovakia, in 1961, and he reported them at a conference the following year, after which they became largely established as Haydn's works. However, in 1974, C. Hatting discovered another, seemingly more complete, three-movement manuscript of Es3 in Budapest, reporting the name of an unknown composer, Mariano Romano Kaiser, as its author. Since then, the authenticity of these two pieces has suddenly been called into question. The manuscript collection discovered by Feder contained five Haydn clavier sonatas, three of which were known, and these two were entirely unknown. When comparing the three known pieces in this manuscript collection with other sources, it is clear that it is a very carelessly copied manuscript with many errors, and its authenticity cannot be positively argued based solely on this source. Rather, a warning should be sounded about the possibility of forgeries having entered even the Henle edition.
3-4. [Undiscovered Works]
Hob.XVI:2a-2e, 2g are six sonatas whose opening themes are listed in the Entwurf-Katalog, but whose scores have not been transmitted. C. Landon gave "citizenship" to these undiscovered works, which is the main reason her numbering expanded to 62 works.
3-5. [Concertos]
The Hoboken catalog lists 11 clavier concertos under the work group XVIII, which were considered genuine at the time (including those that are missing). One of them (Hob.XVIII:6 [F major]) is a double concerto for violin and harpsichord. Although only the title is entered in the Entwurf-Katalog without a musical example, the unusual instrumentation makes its identification certain. Four other concertos listed in the same catalog (Hob.XVIII:1 [C major], Hob.XVIII:2 [D major], Hob.XVIII:3 [F major], Hob.XVIII:4 [G major]), and one (Hob.XVIII:11 [D major]) for which Haydn's letters concerning publication negotiations with a Parisian publisher survive, are undoubtedly Haydn's works. For No. 1, an autograph manuscript also survives, bearing the year 1756, the only one among the 1750s works, and titled "Concerto for Organ." However, the Entwurf-Katalog states "for clavicembalo," suggesting it was likely performed on the organ in church and on the harpsichord in court. No. 2, which is thought to be from the same period, may similarly have originally been written for organ. Nos. 3-4 are strongly likely to have been written in the late 1760s; both were later published in Paris, following the famous No. 11, and in printed scores are designated "for harpsichord or fortepiano." Furthermore, the authenticity of the five concertos Hob.XVIII:5, 7-10 is not sufficiently proven, and they are also transmitted under names other than Haydn's.
All six genuine concertos have a fast-slow-fast three-movement structure. Hob.XVIII:3 and 6 have accompaniment by strings alone, while the others have orchestral accompaniment of standard symphonic eight parts (four strings, two oboes, two horns). However, Hob.XVIII:1 is equipped with two trumpets instead of two horns, which further suggests its original nature as a work for organ solo in a church setting.
In Haydn's early period, this genre had an ambiguous boundary with the quartet divertimentos (Hob.XIV) which featured clavier as a solo instrument accompanied by two violins and bass. That is, if the string instruments were duplicated, it would be difficult to distinguish from the case of Hob.XVIII:3, and conversely, if Hob.XVIII:3 were performed with one player per part, it would become a piece that should be classified under Hob.XIV. However, this section does not cover chamber music, including the clavier trios (Hob.XV), which were produced in large quantities and were popular at the time. Therefore, works of other genres will not be discussed here. (Editor's note: Since 2010, the PTNA Piano Encyclopedia has actively begun to organize information on chamber music.)
4. Haydn: History of Clavier Sonata Compilation
The first person to assign consecutive numbers to what was believed to be the complete set of Haydn's clavier sonatas was Karl Päsler (published in 1918), as part of the first-ever Haydn Complete Edition by Breitkopf & Härtel, which began in 1908 (and was abandoned in 1933). At that time, he expanded the number of Haydn's clavier sonatas from what had been considered 34, or 39 since Hugo Riemann added five new ones in 1895, to 52 at once. This was the result of a re-examination of sources, driven by the ambition to create a complete Haydn edition. He intended to arrange these 52 sonatas in chronological order of composition. However, there was a complete lack of supporting material to arrange Nos. 1-17 in compositional order, and due to circumstances such as sonatas believed to have been written much earlier being first published (Nos. 43-47) after Haydn became famous in the 1780s, several major revisions to Päsler's assumed chronological order are necessary. Nevertheless, this arrangement remained unchanged for approximately half a century thereafter and was even adopted by Hoboken in his Haydn Works Catalog (1957). Hoboken, however, adopted this policy to respect existing genre classifications as much as possible.
Christa Landon, in the Vienna Urtext Edition, completely broke with this. She added 13 new pieces (six of which have no physical existence) and excluded three, bringing the total to 62, and boldly re-numbered them entirely based on a newly estimated chronological order of composition. However, this attempt was not well-founded (especially as the necessary sources for arranging the early sonatas chronologically are not preserved), and it further complicated the already difficult task of organizing Haydn's works. On the other hand, Feder, who was responsible for the relevant volume of the Joseph Haydn Werke (JHW) compiled by the Haydn Institute in Cologne, stopped assigning continuous numbers. Instead, he divided all 54 works into 10 groups based on when they were thought to have been composed or published together. While some order is necessary, he allowed flexibility in the chronological relationships between the groups and between individual pieces within each group.
These two editions are Urtext editions, striving to restore Haydn's original form by comparing and examining all surviving autograph manuscripts and important contemporary manuscript and printed scores. However, they show differences in the interpretation of sources. This extends in part to whether a work is by Haydn or not, and the differences are not small regarding the date of composition or the order of creation of the works.
Their sharp disagreements concern a dozen or so clavier sonatas that might be early works, while there is no disagreement on works believed to have been composed from around the late 1760s onwards. A table below shows the differences in works included in each edition, including the Breitkopf & Härtel (B & H) edition, which has been widely used since the early 20th century.
Hoboken No. | B & H Edition (Päsler Edition) | Henle Edition (Feder Edition) | Vienna Urtext Edition (Christa Landon Edition) |
Hob. XIV: 5 = Hob.XVI: 5 bis | × | ○ | ○ |
Hob.XVI: 11 | ○ | × | ○ |
Hob.XVI: 15 | ○ | × | × |
Hob.XVI: 16 | ○ | ○ | × |
Hob.XVI: 17 | ○ | × | × |
Hob.XVI: 47 | ○ | × | ○ |
Hob.XVI: 47 bis | × | ○ | ○ |
Hob.XVI: G 1 | × | ○ | ○ |
Hob.XVI: D 1 | × | ○ | ○ |
Hob.XVI: Es 2 | ○ | ○ | ○ |
Hob.XVI: Es 3 | ○ | ○ | ○ |
Hob.XVI: 2a | × | × | ○ |
Hob.XVI: 2b | × | × | ○ |
Hob.XVI: 2c | × | × | ○ |
Hob.XVI: 2d | × | × | ○ |
Hob.XVI: 2e | × | × | ○ |
Hob.XVI: 2g | × | ○ | ○ |
Total Number of Works | 52 | 54 | 62 |
Comparison with Päsler Edition | ＋6－4 | ＋13－3 |
Works(174)
Concerto (1)
concerto (11)
Concerto per il clavicembalo(l'organo) Hob.XVIII:1
Key: C-Dur Composed in: 1756 Playing time: 23 min 10 sec
Concerto per il clavicembalo o fortepiano Hob.XVIII:5
Key: C-Dur Composed in: 1763 Playing time: 11 min 50 sec
Concerto per violino, e cembalo Hob.XVIII:6
Key: F-Dur Composed in: 1766 Playing time: 20 min 00 sec
Concerto per il clavicembalo(concerto per l'organo) Hob.XVIII:8
Key: C-Dur Playing time: 12 min 30 sec
Concerto per il clavicembalo o fortepiano Hob.XVIII:11 op.21
Key: D-Dur Composed in: 1784 Playing time: 16 min 00 sec
Piano Solo (11)
sonata (61)
Sonate für Klavier Nr.20 Hob.XVI:18 op.53-3
Key: B-Dur Composed in: 1788 Playing time: 11 min 00 sec
Sonate für Klavier Nr.29 Hob.XVI:45 op.54-2
Key: Es-Dur Composed in: 1766 Playing time: 17 min 30 sec
Sonate für Klavier Nr.30 Hob.XVI:19 op.53-2
Key: D-Dur Composed in: 1767 Playing time: 18 min 30 sec
Sonate für Klavier Nr.31 Hob.XVI:46 op.54-3
Key: As-Dur Composed in: 1788 Playing time: 19 min 30 sec
Sonate für Klavier Nr.32 Hob.XVI:44 op.54-1
Key: g-moll Composed in: 1788 Playing time: 13 min 30 sec
Sonate für Klavier Nr.33 Hob.XVI:20 op.30-6
Key: c-moll Composed in: 1771 Playing time: 16 min 00 sec
Sonate für Klavier Nr.34 Hob.XVI:33 op.41-1
Key: D-Dur Composed in: 1778 Playing time: 14 min 00 sec
Sonate für Klavier Nr.35 Hob.XVI:43 op.41-4
Key: As-Dur Composed in: 1783 Playing time: 13 min 30 sec
Sonate für Klavier Nr.36 Hob.XVI:21 op.13-1
Key: C-Dur Composed in: 1773 Playing time: 14 min 00 sec
Sonate für Klavier Nr.37 Hob.XVI:22 op.13-2
Key: E-Dur Composed in: 1773 Playing time: 12 min 00 sec
Sonate für Klavier Nr.38 Hob.XVI:23 op.13-3
Key: F-Dur Composed in: 1773 Playing time: 13 min 30 sec
Sonate für Klavier Nr.40 Hob.XVI:25 op.13-5
Key: Es-Dur Composed in: 1773 Playing time: 7 min 30 sec
Sonate für Klavier Nr.42 Hob.XVI:27 op.14-1
Key: G-Dur Composed in: 1776 Playing time: 12 min 00 sec
Sonate für Klavier Nr.43 Hob.XVI:28 op.14-2
Key: Es-Dur Composed in: 1776 Playing time: 13 min 30 sec
Sonate für Klavier Nr.44 Hob.XVI:29 op.14-3
Key: F-Dur Composed in: 1774 Playing time: 14 min 30 sec
Sonate für Klavier Nr.45 Hob.XVI:30 op.14-4
Key: A-Dur Composed in: 1776 Playing time: 12 min 00 sec
Sonate für Klavier Nr.47 Hob.XVI:32 op.14-6
Key: h-moll Composed in: 1776 Playing time: 10 min 30 sec
Sonate für Klavier Nr.48 Hob.XVI:35 op.30-1
Key: C-Dur Composed in: 1780 Playing time: 13 min 00 sec
Sonate für Klavier Nr.49 Hob.XVI:36 op.30-2
Key: cis-moll Composed in: 1780 Playing time: 12 min 30 sec
Sonate für Klavier Nr.50 Hob.XVI:37 op.30-3
Key: D-Dur Composed in: 1780 Playing time: 10 min 30 sec
Sonate für Klavier Nr.51 Hob.XVI:38 op.30-4
Key: Es-Dur Composed in: 1780 Playing time: 12 min 00 sec
Sonate für Klavier Nr.52 Hob.XVI:39 op.30-5
Key: G-Dur Composed in: 1780 Playing time: 13 min 30 sec
Sonate für Klavier Nr.54 Hob.XVI:40 op.37-1
Key: G-Dur Composed in: 1784 Playing time: 10 min 00 sec
Sonate für Klavier Nr.55 Hob.XVI:41 op.37-2
Key: B-Dur Composed in: 1784 Playing time: 10 min 30 sec
Sonate für Klavier Nr.56 Hob.XVI:42 op.37-3
Key: D-Dur Composed in: 1784 Playing time: 11 min 30 sec
Sonate für Klavier (Divertimento) Hob.XVI:16
Key: Es-Dur Composed in: 1750 Playing time: 8 min 00 sec
fantasy (1)
variation (6)
Tema con 6 variazioni 'Faciles et agreables' Hob.XVII:5
Key: C-Dur Composed in: 1791 Playing time: 7 min 30 sec
menuetto (10)
other dances (2)
caprice (1)
Capriccio 'Acht sauschneider müssen sein' Hob.XVII:1 op.43
Key: G-Dur Composed in: 1765 Playing time: 7 min 30 sec
transcription (3)
Various works (17)
Piano Ensemble (4)
divertimento (1)
Divertimento 'Il maestro e lo scolare' Hob.XVIIa:1
Key: F-Dur Composed in: 1778 Playing time: 10 min 00 sec
Reduction/Arrangement (2)
Chamber Music (4)
divertimento (10)
Various works (33)
Chamber music (7)
Lied (1)