Joseph Haydn: 16 Early Keyboard Sonatas Hob. XVI: 1-16 – Chen Xueyuan

This Da Vinci Classics production, first in a series aiming at the recording of Haydn’s complete keyboard sonatas, includes sixteen short examples of Haydn’s early style as a composer of Sonatas. His writing here is indebted to two intertwining traditions: the northern one, whose undisputed leader was Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, and the southern one, championed by Georg Christian Wagenseil. Fascinatingly, this recording allows us to observe, firsthand, the evolution of Haydn’s own language and of that of his time: a time of transition between Baroque, style galante and Classical era. Haydn himself should be credited with many merits for the successful transition from one style to another, and these small gems – many of which were conceived for amateur players, but nonetheless are delightful both to play and to listen to – constitute a valuable link between the Suites of the Baroque era and the Classical Sonata form which Haydn himself would contribute to craft.