Haydn: The Complete Piano Sonatas, Volume 2: Piano Comb Bound Book

This edition honors Haydn's original intentions while giving modern pianists the interpretive guidance they need to navigate the gap between period practice and contemporary instruments. Dr. Hinson's annotations are restrained and stylistically informed, never overstepping into the score itself. The comb binding is genuinely practical for students who need to keep pages open during rehearsal and performance.

Haydn's sonatas feel like conversations. They surprise you with harmonic turns you didn't expect, reward you with moments of crystalline beauty, and maintain an elegant sense of proportion even in their most elaborate developments. There's intelligence and good humor woven throughout, alongside passages of genuine tenderness.

Late intermediate and advanced piano students ready to engage with sophisticated Classical architecture. This edition suits studio teachers and pianists preparing recital repertoire, as well as students exploring the roots of the Romantic piano tradition.

• Maintain clarity in fast passages by thinking in terms of voice leading rather than mere finger technique. Haydn's writing always has inner voices worth hearing, even in rapid figurations.
• Shape phrases with the Classical period's preference for gentle dynamic arrival rather than sudden accent. Let harmonic motion guide your dynamic contour.
• Explore the dynamic and articulation suggestions in Hinson's notes as interpretive choices, not requirements. Recording multiple versions of the same movement deepens your understanding of the text.
• Use the pedal sparingly and with specificity. The sonatas were conceived for instruments with far less sustain than the modern piano, and Haydn's voice-leading clarity benefits from transparency.

Program these sonatas in studio recitals to frame the eighteenth-century roots of nineteenth-century virtuosity, or pair them with Beethoven or Mozart to show the stylistic continuum. A single movement makes a satisfying concert opener; a full sonata demonstrates the student's command of longer forms.

• Understanding Classical sonata form through firsthand engagement with its greatest practitioner
• Balancing technical clarity with Romantic expression on a modern instrument
• Interpreting stylistically appropriate dynamics and phrasing in period music
• Voice leading and harmonic analysis through performance
• Sustaining listener attention across multi-movement works