Haydn: Piano Sonatas Nos. 32, 40, 49, 50 Paul Lewis

• Joseph Haydn (1732 - 1809): Piano Sonata in E-Flat Major, Hob. XVI:49:
• 1 Piano Sonata in E-Flat Major, Hob. XVI:49: I. Allegro 10:20
• 2 Piano Sonata in E-Flat Major, Hob. XVI:49: II. Adagio cantabile 08:29
• 3 Piano Sonata in E-Flat Major, Hob. XVI:49: III. Finale. Tempo di menuetto 04:11
• Piano Sonata in C Major, Hob. XVI:50:
• 4 Piano Sonata in C Major, Hob. XVI:50: I. Allegro 10:42
• 5 Piano Sonata in C Major, Hob. XVI:50: II. Adagio 05:29
• 6 Piano Sonata in C Major, Hob. XVI:50: III. Allegro molto 02:39
• Piano Sonata in B Minor, Hob. XVI:32:
• 7 Piano Sonata in B Minor, Hob. XVI:32: I. Allegro moderato 06:54
• 8 Piano Sonata in B Minor, Hob. XVI:32: II. Menuet 03:57
• 9 Piano Sonata in B Minor, Hob. XVI:32: III. Finale. Presto 04:38
• Piano Sonata in G Major, Hob. XVI:40:
• 10 Piano Sonata in G Major, Hob. XVI:40: I. Allegretto innocente 08:58
• 11 Piano Sonata in G Major, Hob. XVI:40: II. Presto 03:03
• Total Runtime 01:09:20

Info for Haydn: Piano Sonatas Nos. 32, 40, 49, 50

Haydn's relationship with the keyboard was so intimate and inspirational that it enabled him to develop ideas of the most varied character. From the whimsical to the dramatic, this highly attractive music combines mischievousness, ingenuousness, eloquence and lyricism. Haydn's wealth of contrasts is interpreted with unique grace by Paul Lewis.



Paul Lewis talks about the Haydn’s piano sonatas. "I've wanted to explore the piano sonatas of Haydn in detail for some time. It's unfortunate that his works don't get played as often as they deserve, as they contain some of the most startlingly original and irresistibly absurd piano writing in the entire repertoire. There aren't many composers whose music can raise a laugh from an audience, but Haydn certainly tops that short list. His outrageous ability to surprise, shock, and poke fun at the listener still feels remarkably fresh in an age when ever-increasing extremes have become the norm.

Brahms is a composer I've come to love more recently. Few composers manage to fuse wild passion and high drama with such supreme perfection of the craft of composition - a perfection that, for me, felt untouchable for many years. Brahms strikes me as an overwhelmingly contradictory composer whose madness has an inner logic, and in whose hands the rawest of emotion can sound simultaneously unrestrained and refined.

"I realised that I couldn't resist dedicating a few years to exploring Haydn and Brahms but felt that, in practice, the programmes would need another element to bring these two hugely contrasting composers together. That element wasn't too difficult to find. Many of the miniatures in Beethoven's three sets of Bagatelles have much in common with the quirkish humour of Haydn, while some others look forward unmistakably to the heartfelt romanticism of Brahms. The Diabelli Variations - arguably Beethoven's greatest piano work - goes even further in both directions and, in the context of this series, serves as a summing up of the whole. I can think of no piano work more wide-ranging in character than Beethoven's final major work for the instrument. It encompasses everything from the blustering to the introspective, the farcical to the deeply serious, the tender-hearted to the downright bloody-minded - and a final variation which, miraculously, manages to rise above it all while looking in all possible directions at once." (Paul Lewis)

Paul Lewis, piano

No biography found.

Booklet for Haydn: Piano Sonatas Nos. 32, 40, 49, 50