Emil Gilels plays Haydn Sonata in C minor Hob. XVI: 20

[@jia1373]

II. Andante con moto 10:09 III. Allegro 17:49

[@ДмитрийИванов-ч1ф]

Гилельс один из самых гениальных музыкантов за всю историю человечества . А Хайдн вообще инопланетян. Папаша Хайдн.

[@ДмитрийИванов-ч1ф]

Гениальная музыка и гениальное исполнение. Слов нет!

[@andrewhalliday9078]

possibly the first great masterpiece to be written for the piano. A masterful performance too

[@elpalitoedita5692]

exquisito sonido,refinado y seco

[@messrtwinky]

Thank you for uploading this wonderful recording!

[@elaineblackhurst1509]

Arguably so, but I think the A flat major sonata Hob. XVI:46 written three years earlier (1768) than the c minor sonata Hob. XVI:20 (1771), probably claims the prize. Both works are unqualified masterpieces, and rank as two of the greatest sonatas of the 18th century Classical period.

[@unpodimusica1]

Haydn's sonatas are not just for children... what an amazing interpretation of this not at all easy sonata.

[@elaineblackhurst1509]

Annie Helman You’re absolutely right - whilst some are, and some are intended for learners. Many however are works of the highest artistic inspiration and are intended for professional pianists of the highest calibre. The trick is to know the difference.

[@pupfer]

@@elaineblackhurst1509 many!!? Are u joking, Haydn is like sonata God, and this is a brilliant example of his unworldly talent.

[@elaineblackhurst1509]

supermenexist This ‘sturm und drang’ sonata in c minor written in 1771 is without doubt one of the greatest modern piano sonatas ever written; many others are of the highest artistic and musical quality too. There are however, a small number written with an eye to the amateur market and/or publishers’ requirements, or like Mozart’s K545 for pupils, or like Beethoven’s Opus 49 for a particular patron; all these examples are categorically *not* of the same standard as the greatest works. The great Haydn scholar HC Robbins Landon comments about the publication of this profound c minor sonata in 1780 when it was published as part of a set of six along with the sonatas Hob. XVI:35 - 39, that it was issued ‘...together with some of the most Rococo and empty music he ever wrote’. Not sure that it is doing Haydn a service to suggest that all the sonatas are all of a similar standard - they are not - though a large number of them are very fine works by any standard, and guarantee his place amongst the greatest of composers for the keyboard.

[@leo32190]

Elaine Blackhurst I hope you are not suggesting that ambitious amateurs should not play this work.

[@elaineblackhurst1509]

Layser H I think it is very clear what I wrote, and also an extremely accurate and succinct summary of the huge variety to be found in Haydn’s sonatas; the same is true of Mozart as well, though Beethoven is more consistent, especially if we remove the ridiculous pair of sonatas Opus 49 from the canon - Beethoven never intended them to be included - and reduce the total from 32 to 30. Yes, ambitious amateurs should attempt this sonata without question; musically, it is way ahead of much of the empty second and third rate music which is inflicted on ‘amateurs’ and students learning the piano. Any pianist who can manage the considerable technical demands of the sonata - ie play the notes - can then consider it a lifetime well spent in trying to play the music.

[@meredith218461]

This period of his illustrious career finds Gilels on absolute peak form. This work stands alongside the composers well known E flat sonata (Famously recorded by Horowitz in the 1930s) in terms of greatness.

[@thomgeo8073]

ЭМИЛЬ ГИЛЕЛЬС ! Уже Всё Сказано...

[@ИринаЧервякова-я1п]

Wonderful!!!👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻🙏🏻❤️

[@ilyaded]

I agree about sonatas of Haydn, they are great ones. I love them more then Mozart ones, even those are masterfully crafted

[@GarySchmidtPianist]

Such a masterpiece. No fluff here. Comparable to mozarts great cm sonata but imho surpasses most of mozarts piano sonatas. Of course superb performance as well. In no way easy.

[@arturozeballos1]

un coloso del piano ...el gran EMIL GILELS.

[@davetubervid]

Surprising romantic sound coming from Haydn....could almost be a 19c piano piece

[@elaineblackhurst1509]

Listen again; it’s not only very, very Classical, but it’s quintessential Haydn as well (not a single note sounds like Mozart). I think you have a point however that Gilels’ performance somewhat betrays both the date of this recording, and his main areas of strength which lay mainly in the next century.

[@davetubervid]

@@elaineblackhurst1509 Thank you. I will listen again.I am into Chopin now...I always thought of his pieces as delightful rather than profound, never one of my favourites but I am coming to realise what a master he is.

[@elaineblackhurst1509]

@@davetubervid A very similar sonata in mood is the A flat major Hob. XVI:46 which was written in 1768 - three years before the c minor Hob. XVI:20; I think the A flat is the first indubitably great modern piano sonata.

[@davetubervid]

@@elaineblackhurst1509 Hi Elaine, I have just listened to Haydn's sonata in A flat major - yes, it is a marvellous work, classically tight but with depths of emotion. I don't read music myself so can't give you technical analysis but hey, music is my life, there is nothing that affects me so deeply. And not just classical music. My small house is crammed with CDs (and books).Do you have a favourite performer of Haydn piano sonatas? (And , by the way, the first great moden piano sonata has got to be by MR. BEETHOVEN - LOL)

[@elaineblackhurst1509]

@@davetubervid Alfred Brendel is one of the greatest performers of Haydn’s piano works - ever. For your next Haydn discovery, try Brendel playing the Andante con variazione in f minor (Hob. XVII:6). Beethoven is *not* the right answer to the question as to who wrote the first great piano sonata; he wrote 30* unqualified masterpieces all of which can be classified as great, however Haydn got there first with the two I mentioned, followed by a number by Mozart, then some more by Haydn (Hob. XVI:52 for example), before we get to Beethoven. And that’s before I even begin adding anything to the pre-Beethoven list by composers such as CPE Bach. * I exclude the trivial nonsense of the unworthy pair of facile sonatas Opus 49 which Beethoven did not want publishing, hence 30 rather than the traditional 32.

[@jbein]

Regarding Haydn's genius, let us remember that he was the teacher of both Mozart and Beethoven. I'd happily put that on my resume! With regard to his keyboard music, sonatas not concerti are Haydn best form. With Mozart the opposite is true. Every one of his concerti sparkle.

[@elaineblackhurst1509]

If you’re going to give us history lessons, you need to keep it rather more factually disciplined than the first part of your comment above which is as inaccurate as to fact as it is misleading in judgement. 1. Haydn was *not* Mozart’s teacher. 2. Haydn taught Beethoven *counterpoint* - a form of musical grammar - from Beethoven’s arrival in Vienna in August 1792 until Haydn’s departure for his second visit to England in January 1794. Beethoven plodded through hundreds of dry academic counterpoint exercises from Fux’s manual Gradus ad Parnassum - most of which were neither marked nor corrected - and from which as Beethoven pointedly said: ‘I learned nothing from Haydn’. In 1796, to reinforce the point, Beethoven refused to add ‘Pupil of Haydn’ to the dedication of his Opus 2 piano sonatas to Haydn. That said, if we leave out the ‘teacher’ bit, both Mozart and Beethoven learnt a huge amount from Haydn in rather different ways.

[@TiukkaLinja]

Pletnev's interpretation is maybe even better to me, but this is very good too.

[@MarkuEbernburg]

I do agree that Haydn was a genius but I am not sure that a ranking of the great composers and artists (at least at this level of genius) has any sense. It depends also of the historical period in which it occurs and the state of knowledge and know-how.

[@onellyforkosigan7366]

гений!

[@geoped1]

I'm neither a pianist nor a composer, but I have question for anyone out there who is... taking for granted 'genius', how does someone (how did Haydn) remember from one measure to the next, all the notes in a given passage, to actually write them on staff paper... without forgetting what his hands/mind/heart had played moments before? Did the composing-utilizing music theory rules-precede the playing... or, does/did the composer experiment on the keyboard until he was satisfied...?

[@vahagnvardanyan]

Both. :D Actually remembering musical matter is easy, the only problem is, that you have to perceive a piece in its entirety, the details just become a matter of writing them down. It's like if you want to draw a house you first draw the outline, then the detail. When it comes to classical music, it is musical themes and development, one you remember the themes and the manner in which these themes are developed, it doesn't take enormous effort to write a sonata, but still it takes much effort.

[@rimsadry8892]

hi, do we have to play it whit the pedal ?

[@manuelz.9134]

Hay una o varias personas tosiendo todo el tiempo