ly, every single movement
of a Haydn sonata is developed mainly out of one leading motive. In
the present instance there is a second idea, of a quasi-lyric
importance, introduced in the thirteenth measure--counting each measure
from the first bar. In the forty-third measure a closing theme is
introduced. The places are marked in the Schirmer copies, so there
will be no difficulty in finding them. The second movement, if played
in a very singing but not dragging manner, will be found enjoyable,
although by no means sensational. The ideas are musical and the spirit
earnest. The finale, in the tempo of a minuet, is very pleasing
indeed. Here, also, the purely musical idea rules everything. The
problem with the composer is to treat an idea which pleased him, and to
carry it through all the changes and modifications which occurred to
him as attractive.

The Sonata in C-sharp minor (No. 6, Schirmer) is more significant, and
approximates the spirit of later works in the same key. The principal
subject has a great deal of vigor, and the musical treatment is very
fresh and original. The scherzando which follows is a very light
movement, and needs to be played with great delicacy and spirit. The
whole concludes with a menuetto, moderate in movement, song-like.

To my mind the strongest of the Haydn sonatas is the one which stands
first in the Schirmer edition, also in E-flat, a favorite key with
Haydn. The principal subject is very forcible, and the treatment
varied to a degree. The whole work is one which a musician can play
many times through, and always with enjoyment.

The second movement has the remarkable peculiarity of being in the key
of E major--a violent modulatory relation to that of the first
movement. I should say that this fact indicated that Haydn did not
conceive of the three movements of the sonata as constituting a single
whole, because if he had he could not have followed a close in E-flat
major with an opening in E major, exactly a semitone higher, without
the slightest modulation. This proceeding is inexplicable to me, if he
expected the sonata to be played through entire at a single hearing.
The slow movement, however, is a very strong one, the subject full of
musical feeling, and the treatment clever and interesting. All the
melodic passages in this movement need to be sung with great feeling.
Then the contrast with the lighter portions will produce their proper
effect. The finale, prest