What this sonata lacks in melodic inspiration it makes up for in structural finesse. The initial Moderato movement derives almost entirely from the opening figure, a little splash of a chord followed by a hesitantly descending phrase and then a rising flurry of notes. Everything that follows is essentially a variant of this, and it's well worked over in the development section. The Allegretto is surprisingly somber, though complexly woven. Haydn displays his contrapuntal skill here, at once looking back to the Inventions of Bach and, once or twice, anticipating the rich keyboard sonority Beethoven would favor in his slow movements. The finale is a Presto set of variations on a bubbly little tune. The second variation and portions of the third-there are only three-bring in a bit of the "storm and stress" Haydn had been working into his symphonies, but the tune is so good-natured that it's hard to take this sudden drama very seriously.

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