Sonata Suggestions

[chopininov]

I will be entering a Sonata competition that takes place in February. The competition is a single round, you only play a single movement, and the prize is $200. But the contestants are restricted to playing sonata's from the classical era only. Most of the other contestants will be playing a Beethoven sonata (the favorite, of course, being Moonlight), so I wanted to try a different composer. Any suggestions?

[thalberg]

You could do Haydn sonata 48 in C major.  Second movement. 

It is a two movement sonata.  If you're great at coloristic effects and entertaining the audience, the first movement could work.  It's in double variation form--theme A, theme B, Var A, Var B, etc.  It's very humorous and fun.

But if you want to go for lots of appeal and all out speed--which is funny 'cause it sounds impressive but isn't hard--then you could go for the second movement.  It's a rondo.

It's a sonata that isn't really well known--not a lot of people play it.

If you want to go for a more famous Haydn Sonata, there's another one in C major with a great first movement.  I think it's number 50.

[franz_]

Haydn Hob:50 is not bad.  But also Clementi had great sonatas. Listen to some.

[chopininov]

I'm going to look up those two Haydn sonata's. Thanks.
But I've tried Clementi time and time again. I can't stand him for some reason. His music is a little too dry for me.

[thalberg]

When I played the second movement of Haydn's Sonata 48 at my recital, the applause and reactions I got from people was really intense--they were really impressed.

I could not believe the reaction I got--because the piece is really not hard at all.  I played it fast simply because it is so easy and actually sounds pretty good played fast.  It's a catchy tune, too.

It's one of those wonderful deceptive pieces that makes people think you're amazing.