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Haydn, Franz Joseph : Sonate für Klavier Nr.55  Mov.2 Allegro di molto

Work Overview

Music ID : 32241
Instrumentation:Piano Solo 
Genre:sonata
Total Playing Time:2 min 50 sec
Copyright:Public Domain

Commentary (1)

Author : Ooi, Kazurou

Last Updated: April 3, 2025
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Note: This article is automatically translated from the original Japanese text. The author of the original work did not supervise this translation.

A key tip for playing this second movement can be summarized as "play as lightly as possible." Given the Allegro di molto tempo marking and 2/4 time signature, one might wish to play it at a very fast and sprightly tempo; however, there are several factors, unrelated to tempo, that can cause the entire piece to sound heavy.

  • The issue of staccato length. The numerous staccatos throughout the piece should be played as short as possible. To achieve this, avoid striking the keys too deeply, keep the volume low, and aim for a half-touch to shorten the staccato as much as possible. Please keep this in mind.
  • The issue of the thumb. For instance, in the right-hand passage starting from measure 54, the first finger (thumb) plays the lower F, while the scalar melodic line above it should be played by the fourth and fifth fingers. In this situation, if the fingers playing the upper notes are weak, the F played by the first finger below will naturally sound louder. Therefore, train the fourth and fifth fingers, which are responsible for the upper notes, to have sufficient strength to produce a full sound, and then, suppress the volume of the first finger as much as possible. In essence, the goal is to make only the upper notes prominent, but if the lower F stands out, the piece will sound heavy just from this. Please also be mindful of this issue.

Writer: Ooi, Kazurou