The Piano Sonata in F major, Hob. XVI/9, L.3, was written in 1758 by Joseph Haydn.

Haydn’s piano sonatas were long disseminated solely in the form of copies; it was not until 1774 that a printed edition also appeared, containing the sonatas Hob. XVI:21-26 and dedicated to Haydn’s aristocratic employer Prince Nikolaus Esterházy. With an opening movement characterized by two contrasting themes, a sensitive Adagio in F minor and a sparkling Presto Finale, No. 3 of the collection, in F Major, is an outstanding example of the classical sonata. Perhaps this is why this technically challenging work has remained the most popular of the set.

Franz Joseph Haydn (31 March 1732 – 31 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the piano trio. His contributions to musical form have earned him the epithets “Father of the Symphony” and “Father of the String Quartet”.
Haydn spent much of his career as a court musician for the wealthy Esterházy family at their remote estate. Until the later part of his life, this isolated him from other composers and trends in music so that he was, as he put it, “forced to become original”. Yet his music circulated widely, and for much of his career he was the most celebrated composer in Europe.
He was a friend and mentor of Mozart, a tutor of Beethoven, and the older brother of composer Michael Haydn.

Haydn – Piano Sonata in F major Hob. XVI

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