Piano Sonata in G major, Hob. XVI:40: I. Allegretto innocente

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Musical Terms (7)

• Classical phrase structure English
  The regular, balanced phrase organization typical of the Classical style: typically four-bar or eight-bar phrases in antecedent-consequent pairs, creating a question-and-answer architecture.
  In Haydn, Classical phrase structure is the framework against which his wit and surprises operate. Establish the regularity first — make the phrase rhythm audible and predictable — so that when Haydn disrupts it (an extra bar, a truncated phrase, an overlap), the disruption registers. A performer who obscures the phrase structure makes Haydn's jokes incomprehensible.
• Empfindsamkeit German
  Sensitivity or sensibility — the mid-18th-century German aesthetic of expressive, intimate keyboard writing that influenced Haydn's slow movements, characterised by sighing figures, sudden dynamics, and intense personal expression.
  Empfindsamkeit in Haydn's Adagio movements requires a singing, flexible tone with sensitive attention to the ornamental sighing figures. These are not mere decoration — each appoggiatura and resolution carries emotional weight. Give the dissonance its full expressive value before releasing to the consonance. The touch should be intimate, as if playing for one listener.
• false recapitulation English
  Haydn's favourite structural trick: a premature return of the opening theme in the wrong key during the development section, which then dissolves back into development before the true recapitulation arrives.
  When playing a false recapitulation, the performer should not telegraph the deception. Play the return of the theme with the same conviction as a true recapitulation — the audience must be fooled. The moment when the harmony slips away from the expected home key is the punchline; let it speak without emphasis.
• fortepiano idiom English
  Haydn's later sonatas were written for the English fortepiano rather than the harpsichord — an instrument with a lighter, more transparent tone than the modern concert grand, capable of subtle dynamics but lacking the modern piano's sustain.
  On a modern piano, the fortepiano idiom suggests a lighter touch, shorter note values, and more careful attention to articulation than in Romantic repertoire. The bass should not overwhelm the treble; Haydn's textures are transparent. Avoid the sustain pedal except for specific effects — Haydn's harmony moves quickly and benefits from clean harmonic changes.
• Haydn's wit English
  The quality of surprise, incongruity, and humour that Haydn deliberately cultivated in his music — sudden silences, unexpected key changes, false recapitulations, and endings that refuse to end. Described by contemporaries as his greatest characteristic.
  Haydn's wit requires the performer to be a co-conspirator with the composer. When a surprise arrives — a sudden pause, a comic repetition, an unexpected piano after a forte — don't soften it with preparation. The surprise must surprise. Conversely, don't over-play it; Haydn's wit is dry and deadpan. The audience should laugh, not be told to laugh.
• Hungarian Rondo English
  A rondo finale in Hungarian-Romani folk style, featuring modal scales, dotted rhythms, and whirling figuration characteristic of the verbunkos tradition. Used by Haydn in the finale of the D major Concerto Hob. XVIII:11.
  The Hungarian Rondo should feel danced and physical, with strong off-beat accents and a rhythmic drive that never lets up. The characteristic dotted figures should snap — play the dot fully and the short note as short as possible. The modal inflections (especially the raised fourth and lowered seventh) are the essence of the style; lean into them rather than neutralising them toward tonal norms.
• ornament table English
  Haydn did not leave a systematic ornament table, but his ornamentation follows broadly the C.P.E. Bach tradition: trills begin on the upper auxiliary, appoggiaturas are given significant rhythmic weight, and mordents are short and sharp.
  In Haydn's slow movements, the written ornaments are structural, not decorative — especially appoggiaturas, which carry harmonic dissonance and must resolve with expressive weight. In fast movements, ornaments should be crisp and rhythmically precise. When adding unwritten ornaments on repeats (acceptable and expected), add them sparingly and in the style of the movement, not in the Romantic sense.