Piano Sonata in C Minor Hob. XVI
Piano Sonata in E Minor Hob. XVI
Piano Sonata in E Flat Major Hob. XVI
Piano Sonata in A Flat Major Hob. XVI
Piano Sonata in F Major Hob. XVI

Haydn’s piano sonatas have thrilled me since childhood. This music may seem easy to grasp at first glance: so much seems clear and straightforward. However, once you take a closer look and spend more time playing and listening to Haydn’s music, it develops an endless, multifaceted life of its own. It becomes more concrete and at the same time more mysterious. Unexpected turns of phrase, sudden occurrences, humorous juxtapositions and startling asymmetries are just as much a part of this music as its extended melodic arcs that make the piano sing. Haydn’s music forms an intimate bond between song and speech. In each movement of the ca. 60 piano sonatas he wrote, we meet a personality, an unmistakeable character, evoked in detail.