Joseph Haydn
Sonata
in E-flat Major, L. 62 Hob. XVI: 52
Widely considered Haydn's greatest piano sonata - symphonic in scope, and with bold harmonic twists: Haydn as a visionary, but also in his most irrestibly witty and poetic mood.
Year: 1794
Period: Classical
Piano score: PS Urtext 
Audiovisual Study Tool
Symphonic Sonata
Haydn still had 13 years left to live when he wrote his final piano sonata. He’d already composed 61 of them, however, so it’s understandable that he set aside the form after No. 62. The piece is magnificent. It harks to the quirkiness of the later London Symphonies, some of which were contemporary with this sonata, such as No. 99. The off-balance phrasing and cheeky harmony is here on the piano keyboard in addition to being there on the symphonic score as well. The highly unusual switch to E major – a key very distant to E flat – makes the introspective start of the second movement sound like the entrance into another world.Background
Haydn wrote the work for Therese Jansen, a brilliant pianist whom he met in in London when visiting there in the 1790s. Haydn also dedicated three demanding piano trios (Hob. XV:27–29) and another two piano sonatas (Hob XVI:50 and 51) to Jansen.Forum posts about this piece:
Questions about Eb major Haydn Sonata(Hob 52) by sallycake10
Hello, I have several technical problems with my performance of the Haydn Sonata. I find this sonata to be quite hard, and I have been struggling with a few passages for a long time. So,I would like to seek...
Haydn sonata 52 by sallycake10
Could anyone give me some suggestions on how to practice the demisemiquavers clearly and evenly so that I could coordinate r. h and l.h chords better?What is the correct finger...
Programme suggestion for Recial by lamhon186l
Hi all, I'm doing my end of year recital at music college in May, and I need some suggestion(s) to fill the remaining 10-15 min gap in my programme. Current decided programme: Rachmaninoff...
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Sonata Hob. 16 No. 52 in E-flat Major, a composition by the classical composer Joseph Haydn who was born in 1732 and died in 1809. The piano score of this piece was first published in 1794 and is part of Haydn's Sonatas.