Piano Literature : Sonatas and Variations

Lecture IV: Transition to the Classical Style

I. A New Musical Esthetic

Historical Trends
Decline of Italian Opera and rise of German instrumental music
Sonata form replaces contrapuntal forms (Fugue, Suite, Toccata)
Piano and Clavichord supersede the Organ

"Empfindsamer Stil' or "Galanter Stil"
Exaggeration of detail and expressive gesture
Harmony and homophonic texture supersedes polyphony
Structural experimentation and linkage of Sonata movements
Contrasting thematic areas, tempi and dynamics
Chromaticism and Sequence as developmental techniques
Albeiti bass line

II. Sons of Johann Sebastian Bach

Carl Philip Emanuel Bach (1714-1788): 143 (or mare) Sonatas
Treatise Versuch ubcr die wahre Art das Klavier zu spiclen (1753-62)
Six "Prussian" Sonatas W. 48 ( 1742)
Six "Wurttemberg" Sonatas W. 49 (1744)
Six Sonatas with Varied Reprises W. 50 (1760)
"Fur Kemier und Liebhaber," W. 55-59, 61 (1779, 1787):
Six Volumes of Sonatas, Rondos and Fantasias

Johann Christian Bach (1735-1782): 24 Sonatas

                                                        Six Sonatas op. 5 (c. 1768)
                                                        Six Sonatas op. 17 (1779) - for harpsichord or piano

 

Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach (1732-1795)

 

Wilhelm Friedemann Bach (1710-1784): 15 Sonatas

III. Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)

62 Sonatas
Structural influence of C. P. E. Bach and Wagenseil (Divertimenti)
Incipient Romanticism and improvisational elements
Dual thematic areas
Seven missing Sonatas (Hob. XVI: 2a-2h)

Editions of the Haydn Piano Sonatas
Karl Pasler/Breitkopf & Haitel (1918): 52 Sonatas
Christa Landon/Vienna Unext (1963): 62 Sonatas
Georg Feder/Henle Urtext

Variation Sets
20 Variations in A major Hob. XVII: 2
12 Variations in E-flat major Hob. XVII: 3
6 Variations in C major Hob. XVII: 5
Variations in F minor Hob. XV 11: 6 "Unpiccolo Divertimento" (or "Sonata")
5 Variations in D major Hob. XVII: 7

Listening List IV : Mozart's Sonatas and Variations

Sonata in D major KV. 284

Sonata in A minor KV. 310

I.Allegro maestoso II.Andante cantabile con espressione III.Presto

Sonata in A major KV. 331

I.Andante grazioso with 6 variations II.Menuetto & Trio III.Alla Turca-Allegretto

Sonata in F major KV. 332

I.Allegro II.Adagio III.Allegro assai

Sonata in B-flat major KV .333

I.Allegro II.Andante cantabile III.Allegro grazioso

Fantasy and Sonata in C minor KV .475/457

Sonata in F major KV.533/494

Sonata in B-flat major KV.570

Sonata in D major KV. 576

Ten Variations on an Arietta by Gluck KV. 455

Nine Variations, on a Menuett by Duport KV. 573

Eight Variations on a Lied by Schack KV. 613 Keyboard Sonatas and Variations of Mozart