Haydn: Complete Music For Solo Keyboard

Label: BIS
Catalog: CD1731/33
Format: CD

Ronald Brautigam, fortepiano

Joseph Haydn:Sonatas Nos 1–20 and 28–62; Capriccio „Acht Sauschneider müssen seyn“ in G major, Hob.XVII:1; Arietta con 12 variazioni in E flat major, Hob.XVII:3; Arietta con 12 variazioni in A major, Hob.XVII:2; Fantasia in C major, Hob.XVII:4; 6 leichte Variationen in C major, Hob.XVII:5; Andante con variazioni in F minor, Hob.XVII:6; Adagio in F major, Hob.XVII:9; 20 Variationen in G major, Hob.XVII:2; Andante con variazioni in D major, Hob.XVII:7; Andantino (Allegretto) con variazioni in A major, Hob.XVII:8; Allegretto in G major, Hob.XVII:10; Andante con variazioni in B flat major, Hob.XVII:12; Aria con variazioni in C major, Hob.XVII:15; Adagio in G major, Hob.XV/22II; Allegretto con variazioni in A major, Hob.XVII?A3; Allegretto in G major, Hob.III:41IV; Variationen über die Hymne „Gott erhalte Franz, den Kaiser“ in G major, Hob.III:77II; Il Maestro e lo Scolare in F major, Hob.XVIIa/1; 12 Menuette, Hob.IX:11; 12 Deutsche Tänze, Hob.IX:12; 12 Menuette, Hob.IX:3; 12 Menuette, Hob.IX:8; 2 Märsche (for Sir Henry Harpur), Hob.VIII:1; Marsch, Hob.VIII:3/3bis; Kontretanz, Hob.XXXI:c:17b; Die Sieben letzten Worte unseres Erlösers am Kreuze

Two systems of numbering currently exist for Haydn’s sonatas: one by Karl Päsler (1920), adopted in 1957 inpart XVI of the Hoboken catalogue (52 sonatas plus eight lost ones) and another, now more frequently used, from the 1963–66 edition by Christa Landon (62 sonatas plus seven lost ones). These works and the authentic miscellaneous pieces for solo keyboard can be divided chronologically into four groups of varying importance; together they constitute a body of work of consistent high quality and great variety.
First group: up to 1765
The youth sonatas (Nos 1–18) were composed in the 1750s and early 1760s. Their chronology is very uncertain, and their authenticity cannot always be guaranteed.
Second group: 1765–73
This is a group of ‘difficult’, large-scale sonatas, labelled (rightly or wrongly) ‘pre-Romantic’. They no longer have anything to do with divertimento form; they are influenced by Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach and were written between 1765 and roughly 1773.
Third group: 1773–84
This group comprises more than twenty sonatas – Nos 34–56 – that are both ambitious and popular, composed between 1773 and 1784 and published during the same period in series of six or three works apiece, generally with the composer’s consent.
Fourth group: 1789–97
After 1784 Haydn’s production of keyboard sonatas fell away sharply. Instead he devoted himself assiduously to writing piano trios: no fewer than 28 between 1784 and 1796. During these years he composed only five sonatas, the last three of which were written in London.
Ronald Brautigam, one of Holland’s leading musicians, is remarkable not only for his virtuosity and musicality but also for the eclectic nature of his musical interests. He studied in Amsterdam, London and the USA – with Rudolf Serkin. In 1984 he was awarded the Nederlandse Muziekprijs, the highest Dutch musical award. Ronald Brautigam performs regularly with leading European orchestras under distinguished conductors such as Riccardo Chailly, Charles Dutoit, Bernard Haitink, Frans Brüggen, Philippe Herreweghe, Christopher Hogwood, Andrew Parrott, Bruno Weil, Iván Fischer and Edo de Waart. He is also a devoted player of chamber music, regularly working together with Isabelle van Keulen, Melvyn Tan and Alexei Lubimov.

Price: $86.98