The Keyboard Sonata in G major, H. 16/6, is among Franz Josef Haydn's earliest keyboard works. Published in 1766 (and thought to have been composed as early as 1760), it is concurrent with his earliest authenticated keyboard sonatas and predated only by a handful of pieces of unverified authorship. The piece is unusual among Haydn's oeuvre in several regards. For one thing, the modern title itself is rather inaccurate: as a descendent of the Baroque suite, the piece in its original publication bore the label partita rather than sonata. Accordingly, its movements are all cast in the same key (allowing for both major and minor), after the manner of the multimovement suite or divertimento. The number of movements is unusual as well; while the majority of Haydn's sonatas contain three movements in a fast-slow-fast configuration, the Sonata in G major is one of only two with a four-movement structure. The standard first movement Allegro and middle movement Adagio here are separated by a Minuet (which occasionally closes Haydn's three-movement sonatas); there is a complete break between the Adagio and the quick Finale, unlike the lingering half-cadence and attacca downbeat that sometimes links Haydn's later penultimate and final movements. The first movement, with its balanced phrases and modal contrasts, approaches what modern listeners would consider the archetypal sonata-allegro form, but Haydn was clearly not consciously aspiring to this model yet—as evinced by the uneven distribution of his principle themes and an ultimately episodic approach to form that highlights the lucid character of his melodic trajectories. Likewise, the florid but never opaque ornamentation invokes the voice of the harpsichord (for which Haydn was writing at the time) and places the piece within a pre-classical mode. The Minuet conveys an acute confidence of character, nimbly leaping across rising arpeggios to the melodic peaks from which it casually descends, always above a walking bass line; the harmonic turbulence of the Trio dramatically contrasts the galant da capo. The Adagio, with its steady chordal accompaniment and sinuous, arching melodies, aspires to a kind of operatic intimacy. The jubilant closing movement is carried along on the right hand's mercurial runs and bubbly textures, which, as is often Haydn's habit in his finales, blur the line between discernible melody and virtuosic gesture. Haydn's irrepressible wit is readily apparent, even at this early stage.

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