We have three piano sonatas and one fantasy of Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809) arranged for fortepiano (Boyd McDonald), Concert accordion (Joseph Petric), and Digital Electronics (Peter Lutek) in multiple perspectives. Lutek includes his own, lengthy composition, Sintering. The recordings date from 2021. Disc 1 approaches Haydn through his own instrument, the fortepiano. Disc 2 divides the tracks so that seven belong to the accordion, while the last, Sintering, is an electronic synthesis of Haydn’s motifs in the form of a plastic improvisation.
DISC 1
Sonata No. 23 in F Major (1773): Allegro moderato. A colorful, playful movement, with repeated notes and grace notes (appoggiaturas). The texture varies between delicate, harpsichord and fuller, piano sonorities. The virtuosity resembles a toccata, whose dance tune occasionally wanders into the minor mode. Larghetto in F Minor. This gentle movement is Italian in lyricism, an operatic siciliano. The bass accompaniment creates a dreamy effect. Presto in F Major. A sturdy, quick dance with a march-like pulse that repeats with minor variations. The secondary tune adds runs to the original format. Pianist McDonald takes all the repeats in each movement.
Sonata No. 34 in E Minor (1779): Presto. The music opens briskly, a dance in broken rhythm, 6/8, that suddenly opens out with strong accents. A three-note pattern followed by a trill dominates the pulse. Adagio in G Major. Quite brief (49 measures), in ¾ time. The flowing tune has an ornamental nature, and allows the player to use tempo rubato, to vary the color progress. Haydn connects this mvmt to the final mvmt using a deceptive cadence to the home key, E Minor. Finale, Molto Vivace. Haydn entitles this movement “Innocentemente.” He employs a simple folk tune in E Minor, set as a rondo of 146 measures. The Alberti bass – a left hand repeated figure – adds to the rustic effect. Interrupting the flow are episodes in E Major.
Fantasia in C Major (1789): Presto. Haydn arranged a folk song, “The farmer’s wife lost her cat,” as a caprice of some difficulty. In a single mvmt, the piece becomes sectionalized, although the folk tune reappears, like a rondo with variations. Haydn has the keyboard play the tune in contrasting registers, then in fragments and in altered rhythm. The piece’s humor, coupled with its demands, suggests its influence on Beethoven.