Piano Sonata in C Minor Hob XVI:20

HaydnŒïs c minor Piano Sonata (Hob. XVI:20) has been called, by the leading Haydn scholar Líçszlo Somfai, the most significant piano piece betweenBachŒïs death and MozartŒïs mature Viennese sonatas. Peter Gradenwitz goe s so far as to place it "at the head of the series of great piano sonatas of all time," and Ulrich Leisinger devotes an entire chapter to it in his exhaustive study on the subject. Indeed, with its deep expressivity and its novel and more intensive handling of dynamics, this sonata marksa breakthrough in HaydnŒïs fortepiano style.