Jean Efflam Bavouzet - Franz Joseph Haydn: Piano Sonatas, Vol. 8

After leaving the boys� choir of St Stephens Cathedral in Vienna, one of the ways the young Haydn found to support himself was as a harpsichord teacher. The three early sonatas featured on this recording were almost certainly intended for his students: short, light pieces with few technical demands. The two larger sonatas, both in the key of E flat major, were written some twenty years later and are far more extensive. Both require significantly greater prowess from the performer, and represent Haydn�s ingenuity and skill to the full. The two additional works included here, whilst single-movement compositions, are substantial pieces. The Adagio ma non troppo would become the slow movement of Piano Trio No. 36, whilst the Variations on �Gott erhalte� is based on the second movement of the �Emperor� Quartet (Op. 76 No. 3), which is itself a set of variations on an anthem composed by Haydn at the request of an Austrian politician for the 29th birthday of the Emperor, and intended as a patriotic hymn comparable to �God Save the King� in England � and a response against the Marseillaise.