Joseph Haydn - Keyboard Sonata in C Minor, Hob. XVI: 20 (1771)
Many keyboard sonatas of Haydn were custom-made for the dedicatees, usually female students. This work is not an exception; it was dedicated to two of his talented students who owned excellent techniques - Katharina and Marianna von Auenbrugger. When composing this sonata, Haydn was mindful of their high abilities, it therefore presents considerable virtuosic demand. The work sounded very advanced to Haydn’s contemporaries, perhaps suggesting why he did not see fit to have it published until 1780, nearly ten years after the date that the autograph bears… [343 more words]
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