Piano Sonata C major Hob. XVI:50

This last of the surviving C major sonatas was written during Haydn’s second London sojourn in 1794/95 for the pianist Terese Jansen, Mrs Bartolozzi. It seems to have been a very personal expression of admiration for Jansen-Bartolozzi, for Haydn (who was best man at her wedding in 1795!) had the London first edition of the sonata appear with the inscription “Composed expressly for and Dedicated to Mrs Bartolozzi”. He also granted her the ownership of the sonata.

The pianist may have been unaware that a slightly different version of the second movement had already been published by Artaria in Vienna in 1794 … This revised and single Henle Urtext edition uses skilfully set-up ossia staves to allow both versions to be performed, and is also provided with new fingering by Christian Zacharias. The accompanying texts reflect the latest research from the Haydn Complete Edition.