These Can't Be Any Good

Virtuoso performing skill was virtually a prerequisite for any self-respecting 17th-, 18th-, or 19th-century composer. Biber, Corelli, Locatelli, Vivaldi, Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Liszt, and Brahms were all renowned performers. Schumann would have been on this list if he hadn't damaged his hand in his ill-fated attempt to go to the top of it. It wasn’t enough just to compose; one had to be able to “present" one's works to the public.

There was also a practical consideration, especially with respect to pre-19th-century composers. In those days music publishing was in its infancy. The best way to make money, often any money at all, with one's music was to perform it before a live, breathing, paying audience. Being a famous performer also had certain fringe benefits. The more renowned a musician, the more likely he would find nice, pleasant, noble, wealthy students.

Given this state of affairs, Joseph Haydn was somewhat of an anomaly. His prowess on the harpsichord was merely adequate; and on the violin, though he could “present" a concerto, he was, by his own admission, "no wizard." Given these two handicaps, it would appear that Haydn's prospects for success in the mid-18th­century music business should have been grim. Haydn, however, did have two things going for him: he was a virtuoso composer, and he had a penchant for being in the right place at the right time. Even as a young man his fertile imagination and his powers of invention were extraordinary. Add to this that he was courteous, affable, and prepossessed.

Though he might have had trouble presenting one of his works on the harpsichord, he had absolutely no trouble what­soever in presenting himself. In 1758, Haydn, then a generally impecunious free­lance musician, was engaged as Kammer­compositeur by one Count Ferdinant Maximilian von Morzin. In this capacity Haydn composed a number of charming symphonies. In the audience for one of these Morzin concerts was Prince Paul Anton Esterhazy, who took notice of this capable court musician.

When Morzin fell into financial difficulties, effectively leaving Haydn without a job, the prince moved in and hired Haydn immediately as assistant conductor, and thus began a long and fruitful relationship that would last for most of Haydn's professional career. In his capacity as assistant conductor, and later as Kapellmeister, instrumental skill was not necessary. Haydn had to compose, to manage the orchestra and the court opera, and to conduct (in the 18th-century fashion, from the harpsichord) three jobs for which he was eminently well suited.

Haydn composed keyboard sonatas throughout his career, over 60 in all. Most of them have been ignored over the years by modern keyboard virtuosi. One reason I posit this is that, when they were written, way out in the boondocks of Prince Paul Anton's castle, they just weren't performed. Mozart, by contrast, composed his incomparable canon of piano concerti partially to establish his reputation as a virtuoso pianist. Mozart was also operating in Vienna, not exactly a musical backwater. Mozart's piano concerti garnered a reputation during his brief lifetime and were more or less drafted into the active repertoire from the very start. Over the years a typical misapprehension developed about Haydn's keyboard works, to wit: if they were any good, we would have known about them. Since we don’t know about them, they therefore can't be any good.

More's the pity, because Haydn lavished the same skill, daring, and imagination on these keyboard works that he invested into his incomparable symphonies. These are highly developed (even the earlier ones written expressly for harpsichord), surprising, and often astonishing pieces. The first recordings of these works began to appear some 15 or so years ago. They were a revelation to record buyers, some of whom, I'm happy to say, were pianists. Now, from time to time, a Haydn sonata or two turns up on a recital program.

I’m very excited about this release because it holds two sonatas that I had never before heard. Now I've got about 40 more to discover, and I hope this record will turn out to be the first in a series. As to Anton Nel's performances, suffice it to say that he is a phenomenon -- where was he a couple of centuries ago when Haydn really needed him?!