• Author / Uploaded
• Juan Enzina

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Sonata in C Major, Hob. XVI/35 This sonata is one of the best-known and most frequently performed of the Haydn sonatas. Its appeal is perhaps partly a result of its more regular rhythm, sparser ornamentation, and more immediately satisfying melodic phrases, in all of which respects it is more reminiscent of a Mozart sonata. In character, though, it is distinctly Haydnesque, conveying a buoyant exuberance and sanguine outlook on life. The first movement, marked allegro con brio, is in a swifter tempo than many of Haydn’s other, more stately moderato opening movements. The broken-triad accompanimental triplets have the effect of a perpetuum mobile, since they are interrupted only by a few well-timed rhetorical interludes such as the brief pianissimo sequences in measures 45–50 and 135–140 and the dottedrhythm motif—a repeat of the one he had used at the beginning but with one extra quaver— that starts the development. In the development, the composer switches the triplets to the right hand as he shifts from the major to the minor and ratchets through a series of modulations in typical Haydnesque fashion, beginning in F major, moving to G major and then to A minor (the relative minor). The pervasive key ambiguity is further emphasized in the vacillation between A minor and its dominant of E minor. The whole purpose seems to be to create a suspenseful tone to set the stage for the recapitulation, which Haydn announces is about to occur by returning to the dominant key with the G major seventh chord. The way in which the composer accomplishes this is particularly notable: a circle-of-fifths progression—D minor second inversion to G major seventh chord in root position, setting the stage for completion of the circle in the return to C major. Interestingly, the progression begins with a two-note melodic phrase in both hands, F-E, that is marked adagio. The tempo shift serves to tease the listener à la Mozart. Adding to the overall comic effect, the recapitulation restates the theme an octave lower, beginning on middle C, then uses a C minor variation on the theme to pass into the dominant before returning to the tonic. It is not until the final page that Haydn brings us back to a variation on his original theme, though even then, there is a notable harmonic difference: the triplet accompaniment begins in C major second inversion, a subtle variation that more naturally leads to the G major seventh and back to the root-position C major tonic—a novel conclusion to a delightfully witty and energetic movement. The second and third movements may lack the structural ingenuity of the first, but they are no less appealing. The middle-movement adagio in F major contains one of Haydn’s more expansive melodies, a continuous line that in sentiment resembles the G major andante movement of the celebrated C major Mozart sonata, K. 545. Few classical sonata movements more skillfully contrast the serene with the tragic. The allegro finale is pointed and impish, marked by crisp dotted rhythms. It follows a fairly standard, rondo-like ABABC pattern with a middle contrapuntal minore and short coda. The movement concludes with assertive, yet playful, arpeggiations that underscore the sonata’s spritely quality.