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I am very new to Haydn and only know one piece by him, which is this piece right here.

Could you give me Haydn's most famous pieces? Like, his most famous from each category.

For example, if I were to do this for someone with Chopin I would say,

"-Polonaise Heroic
-Nocturne op9 no2
-Scherzo no2
-Valse op18
-Mazurka op17 no4
-Ballade no1
-Impromptu no1
-Sonata no2
-Concerto no1"

and I believe that would give someone a nice, round picture of who Chopin is. If you could do the same for Haydn, I would really appreciate it.



Thanks!

These are two piano sonatas that I know of that are commonly played.

And we have the famous F minor variations of course

Are you interested in piano music only? Haydn wrote so many sonatas out of which only a couple are played frequently - many more than those select few deserves to be heard. I know little about Haydns concerto works, but although he wrote a fair amount of piano concertos there is only one - nr 11 in D major - that is played somewhat frequently.

I´d also recommend having a look at Haydns piano trios in general - I´ve only played one of them in E flat major but there´s a lot of wonderful music there. It might be a bit of a bore for the cellist who often just doubles the bass of the piano. I was lucky to play my trio with a very musical and interesting cellist who thought it was fun nevertheless, the cello part being quite simple and all.

The Piano Sonata HOB XVI:52 is one of my all time favourites!

Haydn :

Many of the "named" Symphonies :
- No 6 ("Morning"),
- No 7, ("Noon"),
- No 8 ("Night"),
- No 45 ("Farewell"),
- No 49 ("Passion),
- No 59 ("Fire),
- No 94 ("Surprise"),
- No 100 ("Military")
- No 103 ("Drum Roll"),
- No 104 ("London"),

String Quartets : (again, many of the "named" quartets)
Op 64. No 5 ("The Lark")
Op 74, No 3 ("The Rider")
Op 50, Nos 1 - 6 ("The Prussian Quartets")
Op 55, No 1 ("The Razor")
Op 76, No 2 ("Fifths")
Op 76, No 3 ("The Emperor") - the second movement of which gives the German National Anthem

Oratorios
- The Creation
- The Seasons

Piano Sonata
- in C major, HobXVI:35
- in Eb Major, HobXVI:52

- Variations in F minor, HobXVII:6
- Piano Concerto in D major

Masses
- Mass in B-flat major, HobXXII:12 "Theresienmesse"
- Mass in G major, HobXXII:6 "Sancti Nicolai"
- Mass in D minor, HobXII:11 "Nelson Mass"
- Mass in C major, HobXXII:9 "Paukenmesse (Mass in Time of War")

That should give you a start.

Regards,

Bruce gave a great list. To that I would add the "Joke" Quartet Op. 33, No. 2, the "Miracle" Symphony No. 96 and the "Gypsy" Trio, Op. 39.

That is understated humor at its finest. (All great pieces by the way, at least the ones I happen to know.)

-J

"That should give you a start"

Although it's sort of true, since Haydn wrote SO much music!!! Haha.

One of my favorites is the C minor Sonata, Hob. XVI:20. It's a huge leap in quality over his early sonatas and one of his best overall; kind of his equivalent to Mozart's "Jeunehomme" Concerto.

My favourite is the fantasia that I play in the ABF recital #26 that is open right now - first one in the list

Great list, BruceD. Including DameMyra's additions, it covers all bases for a good coverage of Haydn. Make it a long term goal to listen to all of those and you'll indeed have a good start.

As for where to begin, Haydn's most famous works are

Symphony No.94 "Surprise"
-For the 2nd movement's joke, used to wake up audience members for dozing off. It's a great example Haydn's humor and wit.

Symphony No.104 is his greatest symphony.

String Quartet Op.76 No.3 "Emperor"
-For the 2nd movement variations on what would become Germany's national anthem.

His Op.76 string quartets are his best work in the string quartet genre, and you can't go wrong with any of them. My personal favorite is Op.76 No.5 "Largo".

Piano Concerto No.11 in D major
-First movement in particular. Full of energy, humor, and wit

For solo piano music, I recommend
Piano Sonata in A flat major Hob XVI-46
Piano Sonata in C major Hob XVI-50
Variations in F minor Hob XVII-6

His greatest piano sonata is his very last one Piano Sonata in E flat major Hob XVI-52. Also check out Hob XVI-49 and Hob XVI-20.

His piano trios are neglected, but are very worth a listen. On top of the Gypsy Trio, try Hob XV-28. Can't go wrong with any of XV-25 onwards.

His choral music is among the absolute best. The Creation, The Seasons, and The Lord Nelson Mass are his most famous works in the area. Also check out his Stabat Mater and Masses No.9-14.

Haydn is one of my absolute favorite composers, and I hope you come to love his music too. Happy listening!

The Fmajor sonata, for which you gave the link to the Bunin video (third movement) is an excellent work overall. XVI:50 in C (Soda gave a link above) is one of his greatest sonatas (and my personal favorite). It contains, among other rarities found with Haydn, not one, but two instances of an open pedal indication. The Cmajor Fantasy XVII:4, is a piece I absolutely love and one that isn't played nearly often enough. It's wildly imaginative, extremely clever and full of surprises. It is based on a poem/folksong about a peasant woman in search of her lost cat, "Do Bäuren håt d'Kåtz valor'n" (which I actually didn't know until Anton Nel recently informed me of this!)

The C major sonata that I linked is also VERY technically difficult! I tried it and once I realized what I was getting into, I was like "NOPE. Great piece, but too hard for me." Lol.

That C major sonata (50) suffers from excessive perkiness. Listening to it is tiresome, though I can see how playing it may be more interesting (not that I ever tried). I like some Haydn slow movements. But his music, esp. the piano sonatas, does not fulfill my ears and brains. Too cute, too predictable though definitely clever. It is like caviar. If you like it or if it appeals to you at some level, you indulge in tasting a variety of species and trying to discern and appreciate differences. If you are not into the whole raw fish egg thing, you nod your head politely. That's moi.

Disclosure: I have never played a complete Haydn sonata. Horrors to my teacher's sense of moral rectitude. But I will slave over anything by Mozart.

Haydn, predictable? That is the last word I would use to describe him.

I adore his string quartets and piano trios, but I'm actually not a huge fan of his solo piano music, though.

I think, this, is anything BUT predictable, as are many of the late sonatas.

Try listening to the Mosaiques quartet playing his Op 20 quartets. Magical playing of which I never tire hearing.

I'm in love with many of the quartets. So creative, so well-made, with unexpected yet "right" twists and turns.

There's one eight-bar tune from a quartet that sticks in my mind. It starts in minor, serious and determined, and ends in its relative major, happy and carefree. It's delightful, and you wonder, "How the heck did he pull that off?"

There's a very beautiful sonata that I didn't see mentioned, in G minor - just two movements, quite simple, and a fair bit more wistful than Haydn often is. In fact I can kind of imagine Chopin liking this one

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNE9vn_NP-Q