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Haydn, Franz Joseph : Sonate für Klavier Nr.60 Mov.2 Adagio

Work Overview

Music ID : 32253
Instrumentation:Piano Solo 
Genre:sonata
Total Playing Time:5 min 30 sec
Copyright:Public Domain

Commentary (2)

Author : Ooi, Kazurou

Last Updated: May 30, 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.

This second movement is truly a scene from an opera. Consider the melody line as the vocal part, sung by a female singer. Now, how can one make this beautiful, emotionally rich vocal line sound truly like singing? The answer lies entirely in "playing improvisationally."

For example, in measures 18-20, the descending figures of small 32nd notes must be sung freely and improvisationally. The more precisely, mechanically, and without the slightest rhythmic deviation one plays these descending figures, like a computer, the more mechanical the performance becomes. While this might be somewhat acceptable there, doing so in measures 20-21 would result in a very jarring performance.

Measures 31-32 are also a typical improvisational section. Instead of playing precisely, one should freely interpret and loosen the strictness of the rhythm. Similarly, whenever a series of small notes appears, play them in the same way, with a slight loosening of precision.

Ornaments and turns that appear throughout the piece tend to be played mechanically. For example, the turn in the right hand on the first beat of measure 6: since the target note is the half note on the second beat, begin with a soft sound, and shape the F G F E F of the turn melodically. Never rush; play carefully, making sure to differentiate the volume of each individual note.

In any case, consider everything as singing, and therefore, try to devise ways to make even strict dotted rhythms and other small notes sing as melodically as possible.

Writer: Ooi, Kazurou

Author : Saitoh, Noriko

Last Updated: February 9, 2020
[Open]
Note: This article is automatically translated from the original Japanese text. The author of the original work did not supervise this translation.

The second movement, Adagio, is in 3/4 time and F major. It is written in ternary form and possesses a graceful character, filled with ornamental notes throughout the movement. The middle section (from bar 24) begins in C minor. In the third section (from bar 34), a variation of the first section, even finer note values and more elaborate ornamental melodic movements are observed.

Writer: Saitoh, Noriko