Haydn 1776 Sonatas

Lola Odiaga, the Peruvian harpsichordist and fortepianist, continues her series of the complete works of Haydn for piano with this disc that features five sonatas from 1776. The mid- and later 1770s saw a relaxation in Haydn's compositional style, a move away from the stormy melancholy of the many minor key works written in the late 1760s and early 1770s. It is no coincidence that this was also a period in which the composer strengthened his ties with Vienna where he eventually took up residence in 1791. The "six sonatas of 1776" (so called in Haydn's catalog of his own works), of which five are featured on this recording, were the official property of Haydn's patron Prince Nikolaus Esterhçzy, but they could be purchased in Vienna, in manuscript copies, and from professional copy shops. Each sonata on the program ends with a finale in variation form, based either on a minuet or a contredanse, and this, along with the use of the minuet and trio as an internal movement, and the elements of folk song, suggests that in writing his six sonatas of 1776 Haydn aimed to appeal (though not to pander) to current Viennese taste. The fortepiano used in this recording is a copy of an Anton Walter instrument dated ca. 1790 built by Rodney Regier of Freeport, Maine. It has a compass of just over five octaves and - as was the case with the fortepianos of the period - in many ways resembles the harpsichord more than the modern piano.