Franz Joseph Haydn: Divertimento

When Joseph Haydn composed his smaller early Piano sonatas then called divertimentos he clearly kept the beginner and amateur pianist in mind. With only few technical demands these works nevertheless provide an excellent insight into the cosmos of Haydn's Piano music and introduce the player to Haydn's musical language in an exemplary manner. The current edition combines four of the most popular of these easy sonatas for beginners' lessons which already contain essential elements of the classical Viennese Piano style. The text is based on the revised new edition by Ulrich Leisinger who is also responsible for the legendary urtextedition of Joseph Haydn's Piano sonatas by Christa Landon.

À l?époque du classicisme viennois le terme de divertimento désignait une pièce instrumentale légère en plusieurs mouvements de caractère gai et dansant. Outre Mozart Haydn fut également un grand maître dans l?art de composer des divertimenti légers et divertissants de la plus grande qualité. Comme si souvent chez lui l?authenticité des divertimenti pour piano 2 violons et violoncelle n?est pas toujours attestée. L?édition présentée ici propose dans sa partie principale les cinq ?uvres du groupe Hob. XIV dont l?authenticité a pu être vérifiée et en annexe le divertimento Hob. XIV:C2 dont on pense qu?il est aussi très probablement de sa main. Majoritairement en Ut majeur les six pièces sont faciles à jouer et se prêtent ainsi parfaitement à la musique de salon. Le piano domine tandis que les cordes confèrent aux morceaux leur densité sonore. Dotée d?une préface détaillée l?édition Urtext a été préparée avec la précieuse collaboration du spécialiste de Haydn Horst Walter.

Originally written for Cello and Piano Haydn’s Divertimento in D is arranged here by Gregor Piatigorsky for Viola and Piano.

String Quartets Book III op. 17-The autograph score of the Quartets op. 17 was in the possession of the imperial police chief Johann Nepomuk Neuwirth whose widow gave it to the Wiener Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in 1875. It is said thatHaydn ?used to play the viola in quartet rehearsals? at the Neuwirth?s house. Whether the Quartets op. 17 were composed for these gatherings can no longer be ascertained. However even today they stillhave a fixed place amongst the music of all chamber music friends and in particular nos. 4 5 and 6 which are very different to the divertimento style of the early quartets are played again and again.

String Quartets Book II op. 9-Six works belong to opus 9 the first group of Haydn’s String quartets of which we know. The composer also went new ways as far as form was concerned: whereas he had still adhered to the five movement divertimento inthe previous quartets opus 1 and 2 in this case he favoured four movements something he continued in the future. Apart from this he also expanded the register and experimented with metric surprises (for instance in the trio ofthe minuet from the G major quartet).