Joseph Haydn | Trio (a minor) from the Piano Sonata in A major Hob. XVI:12
Syncopation and chromaticism

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Haydn’s early piano sonatas provide an incredible wealth of opportunities to practise the basics of piano technique. Piano pupils who already have more experience will be able to hone their sight-reading with these all-in-all very easy pieces.

This short, melancholy piece particularly lends itself to improving accuracy regarding the white and black keys in the left hand – culminating in the ability to strike the right keys “blindfolded”. With this movement one can understand the compositional technique of the sequence as well as the chromatic descending “lamento” bass. And what’s more, by adding the right hand the rhythmic merging of the persistent syncopation in the right hand with the middle part in the left hand can be practised.

The A major sonata (Hob. XVI:12) can be found in the following Urtext editions (without or with fingering of pianist Benjamin Moser, p. 2-6):
HN 1336 New edition of Haydn's complete piano sonatas, vol. 1 (with fingering)
HN 1536 New edition of Haydn's complete piano sonatas, vol. 1 (without fingering)

Joseph Haydn | Finale of the Piano Sonata in Eb major Hob. XVI:45
Descending thirds, spread out over both hands

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In the Scarlatti-like finale of the Sonata in Eb major there is a short passage that is notated as follows (measures 28-29):

For practice purposes your students should continue this line of short notes in thirds all the way down the scale. They can also give this fun ping-pong effect between the hands a try in other keys, for instance in D major, E major or F major. The left hand should always begin on the root of the key, then proceeding downwards through the scale. This exercise is a fantastic way to consolidate understanding of scales in all keys, as well as to feel the double-escapement action of the piano hammer. And for those who succeed in doing this straight off in Gb major or Db major, it is a sign that they are already very familiar with the keys. Particularly “sporty” students might like to attempt to play this ping-pong-like figure over several descending octaves and at an appropriate pace.

The E flat major sonata (Hob. XVI:45) can be found in the following Urtext editions (without or with fingering of pianist William Youn, p. 90-103): 
HN 1336 New edition of Haydn's complete piano sonatas, vol. 1 (with fingering)
HN 1536 New edition of Haydn's complete piano sonatas, vol. 1 (without fingering)

Joseph Haydn | Piano Sonata in C major Hob. XVI:10
Ingenious fingering

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The central motif in the first movement in one of the many early sonatas in C major is made up of a typical musical phrase

We would probably spontaneously begin playing this simple figure using the 2nd or 3rd finger and then continue with the neighbouring finger in each case:
2-1-2-3-4 or 3-2-3-4-5.

And when repeating it, we would jump accordingly and play it once again with the same fingering, beginning with the 2nd or 3rd finger.

But Haydn wants the player to separate the last note each time (staccato) and to slur the preceding 32nd notes. So, the last 32nd note is not supposed to emphasized at all. But that will not work very well with the standard fingering, will it?

That’s why in the new Henle edition you’ll find a surprisingly ingenious fingering suggestion by the wonderful pianist and piano professor Jacob Leuschner:

This fingering naturally phrases off the 32nd figure because the weak 4th finger has to slightly bend when the 3rd finger stretches over it.

Get your students to play this figure with the fingering
3-2-3-4-3
as a continuous ascending sequence on the white keys.

Detective work: The figure appears quite often in this movement, starting on different notes. Can your students find each time this particular figure occurs? But beware: not all 32nd note figures are the one they are looking for. Get your students to use the ingenious fingering -3-4-3 each time.

And in one single case, Jacob Leuschner has included a little pedagogical fingering joke. Where is it? In it, the player suddenly has to play this same figure with a different and once again unusual fingering – leading to an even better execution of the notated phrasing, as can be heard. Your students can also practise this fingering in an ascending C major scale.

This little exercise not only trains the dexterity of the hand, but also frees us from the routine of using supposedly fixed fingering sequences: We piano players are allowed to and ought to try out ALL fingering combinations, to find the best possible result for OUR HAND.

The C major sonata (Hob. XVI:10) can be found in the following Urtext editions (without or with fingering of pianist Jacob Leuschner, p. 58-63): 
HN 1336 New edition of Haydn's complete piano sonatas, vol. 1 (with fingering)
HN 1536 New edition of Haydn's complete piano sonatas, vol. 1 (without fingering)

as well as in the selection

HN 1504 Haydn, Little early sonatas, p. 18-23

55 internationally recognised pianists each agreed to adopt one of the piano sonatas, furnishing it with their own fingerings: a “who’s who” of the contemporary piano world! Check-out who is standing with us for this new edition:

There are many stories to be discovered behind Haydn's piano sonatas. We took a closer look at three of them for you:

Watch and listen to the pianists playing and speaking! Martin Helmchen, Angela Hewitt, Evgeny Kissin, Benjamin Moser, Carmen Piazzini, Lars Vogt and William Youn are part of our project and tell us why they are inspired by Haydn, why every pianist should play Haydn's music – and why this edition is particularly valuable.

Additionally to the following three short videos you can find the full length videos of all seven pianists on our YouTube channel.