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Sonata in G Major, Hob. XVI:27: Allegro con brio

Joseph Haydn (1732–1809) · sheet music

  • Key G major
  • Time 2/4
  • Levels 7–9
  • Passages 10

Your turn · both hands

 

 

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Joseph Haydn, Austrian classical (1732–1809). The reading release has 10 passages from this piece at levels 7–9; the reader above opens on the easiest, bars 57–64 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 G Major, Hob. XVI:27: Allegro con brio.

  1. Hands together · bars 57–64 level 7
  2. The hardest bars · bars 1–8 level 9

How to play Sonata in G Major, Hob. XVI:27: Allegro con brio

  1. Tempo:Allegro con brio means fast but with spirit; choose a tempo at which your scales and sixteenths still sound clear rather than the fastest you can manage.
  2. Right hand:Keep the fingers close to the keys in scale runs and let the wrist stay quiet; quick passages in Haydn sound best when the touch is light and crisp.
  3. Left hand:The left hand often has chords and jumps that can be 'placed' by hand shape; practice the leaps without looking away from the music, then check each landing note.
  4. Hands together:When a run in one hand arrives, ease the other hand to a softer level so the line stands out; classical texture is almost always melody with accompaniment.
  5. Dynamics:Contrast loud and soft sections clearly, and shape the sixteenths with a small swell as they rise; this style likes sudden changes more than long crescendos.
  6. Reading:Learn the key and its relative keys before starting; the development uses accidentals that are easier to read as chord and scale tones than as separate notes.
  7. Practice:Work in short groups of four measures, first hands separately at half speed, then together. Add a metronome only after both hands know the notes.

Common mistakes

  • Starting the exposition too fast and losing control in the runs. Fix: Set the metronome at a speed where the sixteenths are even, then raise it in small steps.
  • Letting the double-note accompaniment drown the melody. Fix: Practice the accompaniment alone at a soft level, then add the melody on top.
  • Skipping the leaps with a flat hand and missing notes. Fix: Practice the leap by landing on the top note first, then fill in the passage with a smooth arc.
  • Ignoring small differences when themes return. Fix: Compare each repeat with the earlier version before playing it.

Structure: sonata form

A fast sonata-form movement in 2/4: the first theme and a contrasting second theme are presented, developed, and then brought home in the original key. The development leans mostly on the second theme rather than the first.

Exposition · Two themes (G major)
The first theme rises in an upward-reaching figure over a double-note accompaniment, and a contrasting second theme follows before the exposition closes.
Development · Second theme at work
The music leaves G major and works mainly with the second theme, so expect more accidentals as the harmony moves.
Recapitulation · Return home (G major)
The themes come back in the home key, so the finger patterns will feel familiar, but check for small variations when they return.

About Sonata in G Major, Hob. XVI:27: Allegro con brio

Haydn wrote this sonata in the mid-1770s, while he was in the service of the Esterházy princes. He listed it in his own catalogue among six sonatas dated 1776, and Hummel printed the six as a set in Berlin and Amsterdam in 1778 without his authorization. Older Peters editions label it simply 'Sonata I'.

The opening movement is in sonata form and has a lively, athletic character: its first theme climbs upward over an accompaniment of double notes, and the development spends most of its time on the second theme. The sonata as a whole is bright in mood.

It is a good movement for a pianist who has learned the basics of classical style and wants to meet Haydn's quick wit. The page's engraving follows the Peters edition, with the passages graded from level 7 to level 9.

  • The 1778 Hummel print that first published this sonata grouped it with five others, Hob. XVI:28 to 32, and was not authorized by Haydn.
  • Its second movement is a minuet in G major whose trio switches to G minor.
  • The rondo theme of the Presto finale can be heard as related to themes from the first two movements.
  • Landon's catalogue numbers this sonata 42, while the old Peters edition used for this page calls it Sonata I.

Why the first passage is level 7

That passage is level 7 rather than 6 because it carries accidentals outside the key, a hand covers more than one position, its chords stretch wide, it runs fast figuration.

Read the movement by patterns: scale runs, broken-chord figures and double-note accompaniments. If you can name the pattern, you can read faster than if you read each note as a separate item.

Questions about Sonata in G Major, Hob. XVI:27: Allegro con brio

How hard is Sonata in G Major, Hob. XVI:27: Allegro con brio to play?
Its passages grade from level 7 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 G Major, Hob. XVI:27: Allegro con brio for beginners?
Its easiest passage is level 7, so it suits a reader past the beginner stage. Start with bars 57–64 for both hands together, the level-7 passage in the reader at the top of this page; it is level 7 because it carries accidentals outside the key and a hand covers more than one position.
What key and time signature is Sonata in G Major, Hob. XVI:27: Allegro con brio in?
Sonata in G Major, Hob. XVI:27: Allegro con brio is in G major, 1 sharp. The engraving on this page is in 2/4 time.
Who composed Sonata in G Major, Hob. XVI:27: Allegro con brio?
Joseph Haydn, Austrian classical (1732–1809). Haydn wrote this sonata in the mid-1770s, while he was in the service of the Esterházy princes.
Can I practice Sonata in G Major, Hob. XVI:27: Allegro con brio online for free?
Yes. The reader on this page plays any of the 10 graded passages from Sonata in G Major, Hob. XVI:27: Allegro con brio in your browser, with an on-screen keyboard or a MIDI keyboard, and marks every note as you play. No signup.
Is this movement the whole sonata?
No. Hob. XVI:27 has three movements: this Allegro con brio, a minuet with a trio in G minor, and a Presto finale.
Why is it sometimes called Op. 14 No. 1?
The number is a publisher's label from early prints of the set of six sonatas that Hummel issued in 1778; Haydn himself did not assign it.
Why do some editions call it Sonata No. 1 and others No. 42?
Editions number Haydn's sonatas differently. The Peters edition used here calls it Sonata I, while Landon's numbering and the Wiener Urtext edition call it No. 42.

Every passage, easiest first

The reading release grades 10 distinct passages of this piece. Open any of them in the reader:

Level 7
bars 57–64 both hands
Level 8
bars 25–32 both hands · bars 33–40 both hands · bars 65–72 both hands · bars 129–136 both hands · bars 137–144 both hands
Level 9
bars 1–8 both hands · bars 41–48 both hands · bars 73–80 both hands · bars 113–120 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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