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Sonata in E-flat Major, Hob. XVI:28: Presto

Joseph Haydn (1732–1809) · sheet music

  • Key E-flat major
  • Time 2/4
  • Levels 6–9
  • Passages 12

Your turn · both hands

 

 

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Joseph Haydn, Austrian classical (1732–1809). The reading release has 12 passages from this piece at levels 6–9; the reader above opens on the easiest, bars 37–40 for both hands together.

Practice the hard bars →

The hardest stretch is bars 1–8 at level 9.

Your practice path

Learn it the way teachers do: each hand on its own, then together, then the hard bars. Each step is a real graded passage of Sonata in E-flat Major, Hob. XVI:28: Presto.

  1. Hands together · bars 37–40 level 6
  2. The hardest bars · bars 1–8 level 9

How to play Sonata in E-flat Major, Hob. XVI:28: Presto

  1. Tempo:Presto is the fastest ordinary marking, but the movement still has to sound clean. Pick a tempo where the sixteenths in the later returns stay even.
  2. Right hand:Play the quick scale passages with a light, close touch and use the fingering that keeps the hand in a stable position.
  3. Left hand:When the left hand takes the tune, shape it as a melody instead of letting it sound like accompaniment, and keep the right hand softer then.
  4. Hands together:Treat the refrain as a dialog: one hand finishes a gesture and the other answers it exactly on time, with no gap and no overlap.
  5. Dynamics:Save your loudest sound for the last return of the refrain; use quieter playing in the episodes so the energy can build.
  6. Rhythm:Because the refrain returns with faster notes, subdivide mentally into the smallest note value each time so the pulse stays steady.
  7. Practice:Practice the hand-to-hand passing in slow motion with a metronome, then speed up. Learn each return of the refrain as a separate short piece.

Common mistakes

  • Rushing the opening because the marking says Presto. Fix: Start at a tempo you can sustain and increase gradually; the faster returns need headroom.
  • Giving the left hand a heavy sound when it takes the tune. Fix: Practice the passage with the right hand silent and shape the left as a singing line.
  • Treating each return of the refrain as the same. Fix: Mark where each return adds faster notes and plan a small push of energy at each.
  • Dropping the pulse at the fermatas. Fix: Count the pause silently and resume at the original tempo.

Structure: rondo

A rondo in 2/4: a catchy refrain alternates with contrasting episodes, and each return of the refrain is decorated with finer rhythms. That gradual increase of speed in the notes gives the movement its drive toward the end.

A · Refrain (E-flat major)
The theme tosses between right and left hands in short phrases, so reading a clear hand-to-hand handoff matters more than raw speed.
Episodes · Contrasting sections
The music steps away from the refrain into contrasting material before each return, so read ahead for the change of figure and any new accidentals.
Final return · Refrain with finer rhythms (E-flat major)
The refrain comes back with quicker note values, so the last statement is the busiest.

About Sonata in E-flat Major, Hob. XVI:28: Presto

This Presto closes Haydn's E-flat major sonata, one of six he listed together in his catalogue under the year 1776; Hummel printed the set in 1778. Its three movements are an Allegro moderato, a minuet with a trio in the parallel minor, and this fast rondo finale.

Haydn writes the opening theme as an exchange: the tune is passed from one hand to the other like a conversation. Each return of the theme comes back with more rapid note values, so the movement grows livelier as it goes.

The page uses the Peters edition that the Mutopia Project typeset, where the finale is labeled 'Sonate II, III: Presto'. Passages are graded from level 6 to level 9.

  • The refrain's notes are passed between the hands in an effect described as a conversation.
  • Two fermatas interrupt the movement with brief pauses.
  • The sonata's first movement interrupts itself twice with a single measure marked Adagio and a fermata, followed by a small ornamental flourish.
  • The trio of the minuet is in E-flat minor and is rich in chromatic notes.

Why the first passage is level 6

That passage is level 6 rather than 5 because it runs fast figuration.

Look for the handoffs: mark where each hand starts and stops the refrain. Reading the music as two interleaved lines is easier than reading it as one thick passage.

Questions about Sonata in E-flat Major, Hob. XVI:28: Presto

How hard is Sonata in E-flat Major, Hob. XVI:28: Presto to play?
Its passages grade from level 6 to level 9 on Real Sight Reader's ten-level reading scale, so the full piece is intermediate to advanced reading. The hardest stretch is bars 1–8 at level 9.
Is there an easy part of Sonata in E-flat Major, Hob. XVI:28: Presto for beginners?
Its easiest passage is level 6, so it suits a reader past the beginner stage. Start with bars 37–40 for both hands together, the level-6 passage in the reader at the top of this page; it is level 6 because it runs fast figuration.
What key and time signature is Sonata in E-flat Major, Hob. XVI:28: Presto in?
Sonata in E-flat Major, Hob. XVI:28: Presto is in E-flat major, 3 flats. The engraving on this page is in 2/4 time.
Who composed Sonata in E-flat Major, Hob. XVI:28: Presto?
Joseph Haydn, Austrian classical (1732–1809). This Presto closes Haydn's E-flat major sonata, one of six he listed together in his catalogue under the year 1776; Hummel printed the set in 1778.
Can I practice Sonata in E-flat Major, Hob. XVI:28: Presto online for free?
Yes. The reader on this page plays any of the 12 graded passages from Sonata in E-flat Major, Hob. XVI:28: Presto in your browser, with an on-screen keyboard or a MIDI keyboard, and marks every note as you play. No signup.
What is Hob. XVI:28?
It is Haydn's keyboard sonata in E-flat major, numbered 43 in Landon's catalogue and the Wiener Urtext edition, and sometimes labeled Op. 14 No. 2 after early prints.
What grade is this sonata?
No exam board grade was found. Piano Street rates the whole sonata level 8 on its own difficulty scale.
How long is this finale?
The Piano Encyclopedia of Japan lists about four minutes; actual timings vary a good deal with tempo and repeats.

Every passage, easiest first

The reading release grades 12 distinct passages of this piece. Open any of them in the reader:

Level 6
bars 37–40 both hands
Level 7
bars 9–16 both hands
Level 8
bars 33–40 both hands · bars 81–88 both hands
Level 9
bars 1–8 both hands · bars 17–24 both hands · bars 73–80 both hands · bars 97–104 both hands · bars 113–120 both hands · bars 121–128 both hands · bars 129–136 both hands · bars 137–144 both hands

More pieces to sight-read

Score: public-domain engraving from the corpus (mutopia-ly), graded by the piano-reading-v2-20261023-identity-audit reading release.

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