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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.
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")
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.
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.
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".
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!)
"And if we look at the works of J.S. Bach — a benevolent god to which all musicians should offer a prayer to defend themselves against mediocrity... -Debussy
"It's ok if you disagree with me. I can't force you to be right."
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.
I think, this, is anything BUT predictable, as are many of the late sonatas.
"And if we look at the works of J.S. Bach — a benevolent god to which all musicians should offer a prayer to defend themselves against mediocrity... -Debussy
"It's ok if you disagree with me. I can't force you to be right."
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