A Sonata in D, by Wilhelm Friedmann Bach, is commented on by Dr. Parry in his "Sonata" dictionary article. There is another one in C major, a fresh and vigorous example of a musician whose powers were never fully developed.
The sonatas of Pietro Domenico Paradies (b. 1710), a contemporary of E. Bach, are of interest. They were published in London by John Johnson, and bear the title, "Sonate di gravicembalo dedicate a sua altezza reale la principessa da Pier Domenico Paradies Napolitano." The edition bears no date; but the right of printing and selling granted by George II. bears the date November 28, 1754. A second edition was published at Amsterdam in 1770. The sonatas are twelve in number, and consist of only two movements of various character: some have an Allegro or Presto, followed by a Presto, Allegro, or Gigue; and sometimes (as in Nos. 9 and 11) the second movement is an Andante. In other sonatas the first movement is in slow time. These two-movement sonatas would seem to form an intermediate stage between Scarlatti and Emanuel Bach. As a matter of fact, however, the latter, as we have seen, had published clavier sonatas in three movements long before the appearance of those of Paradies. In some of the movements in binary form Paradies shows an advance on Scarlatti (see Nos. 1 and 10), for in the second section there is a return, after modulation, to the principal theme. Some have the theme in the dominant key at the commencement of that section, others not. Thus we see various stages represented in these sonatas. The music is delightfully fresh, and, from a technical point of view, interesting. The influence of Scarlatti both in letter and spirit is strongly felt. In some of the movements (cf. first movement of No. 8 and of No. 12) there is a feature which Paradies did not inherit from Scarlatti, i.e. the so-called Alberti bass. Of such a bass Scarlatti gives only slight hints. Alberti, said to have been its inventor, was a contemporary of Paradies, and the latter may have learnt the trick from him: there are many examples of its use. In Alberti, "VIII Sonate Opera Prima,"[72] the opening Allegro of No. 2 has it in forty-four of the forty-six bars of which it consists, and, besides, each section is repeated. That convenient form of accompaniment soon came into vogue. It occurs frequently in the sonatas and concertos of J.C. Bach and Haydn, but it is in the works of second-rate composers that one sees the full use, or rather abuse, made of it. No. 8 of the Paradies sonatas is particularly attractive, and the second movement forms a not unpleasant reminiscence of Handel's so-called "Harmonious Blacksmith" variations.
CHAPTER V
HAYDN AND MOZART
I.—Haydn
This composer, to whom is given the name of "father of the symphony and the quartet," was born at Rohrau, a small Austrian village on the Leitha, in the night between 31st March and 1st April 1732. At a very early age the boy's sweet voice attracted the notice of G. Reuter, capellmeister of St. Stephen's, Vienna, and for many years he sang in the cathedral choir. In 1749 he was dismissed, the alleged cause being a practical joke played by him on one of his fellow-choristers. He was, as Sir G. Grove relates in his article "Haydn" in the Dictionary of Music and Musicians, thrown upon the world "with an empty purse, a keen appetite, and no friends." Haydn took up his abode in an attic in the old Michaelerhaus. But it chanced that Metastasio lived in the same building, and the famous poet took an interest in the penniless composer, and, among other things, taught him Italian. Metastasio was extremely fond of music, and we know from his letters that the flowing compositions of his countrymen delighted him more than the learned music of Germany. Then Haydn made the acquaintance of Porpora, who gave him instruction in composition and in the art of singing. And he is also supposed to have studied the works of San Martini, an Italian composer in the service of Prince Esterhazy. In addition, Italian music was much played and much admired in Vienna. Emanuel Bach also, as we have seen, came under Italian influence, but not until he had finished his studies under his father's guidance. Once more, we may conclude that Haydn, before he commenced writing clavier sonatas, had made acquaintance with those of Paradies and of Alberti. These early Italian influences should be noted, for one is apt to think rather of the young composer as plodding through Fux's "Gradus" and playing Emanuel Bach's sonatas on his "little worm-eaten clavier." During his last years Haydn told his friend Griesinger that he had diligently studied Emanuel Bach, and that he owed very much to him. From the painter Dies, in his biographical notice of the master, we also learn how fond he was of playing Emanuel Bach's sonatas. And this influence was undoubtedly not only a strong, but a lasting one; in 1788, the year in which E. Bach died, Haydn wrote to Artaria, begging the latter to send him that master's last two works for clavier.
In reference to Haydn, musicians are apt to speak merely of his sonatas, whereas those of Beethoven are generally described by their key, or their opus number; or as belonging to one of the three periods into which that master's art-work is usually divided. There is good reason for this difference. Haydn's sonatas are not of equal importance with those of his successor; and then some are old-fashioned, others second-rate. Beethoven's sonatas are by no means all of equal merit, yet there is not one but has some feature, whether of form, or development, or technique, by which it may be distinguished. And yet a close and careful study of Haydn's sonatas will show that he, too, had his periods of apprenticeship, mastery, and maturity. Let not our readers take alarm. We are not going to analyse his thirty-five sonatas, or to enter into minute details. But we shall try, by selecting some of the most characteristic works, to show how the master commenced, continued, and concluded.
The earliest of the published sonatas,[73] No. 1 (33), is somewhat of a curiosity. It consists of four movements: an Allegro in G major; a Minuetto and Trio, G major and minor; an Adagio in G minor; and an Allegro molto in G major. It is the only sonata of Haydn's which contains four movements. The plaintive Trio and the Scarlatti-like Finale are attractive.