Franz Joseph Haydn

Haydn wrote this shortly after the Paris symphonies and it is a prophetic work. Haydn here revels in the capacities of the new fortepiano and the music forsees many possibilities that Beethoven was later to explore. Haydn only met Beethoven for the first time the next year and it would be three years before Beethoven became his unruly student.

The hesitant beginning indicates that the movement will be of more than ordinary length. From the deepest portion of the keyboard emerges a more decisive contour and more purposeful music. It is, however, still probing and inward. Bass arpeggios propel it to a higher level and the music has a truculent power. After a stormy assault on the theme there is an instant of sunny effect and the music flows into the second and final movement. This is unmodified gaiety with drive and bounce. The music flows to an effortless climax.