ornaments in Haydn

[Bob]

Just to check....

I saw a piece of music by Haydn today.  Just before two beats of 16ths there is a grace note with a slash.  Is that on the beat or before the beat.


I think it sounds better before the beat, but I'm wondering what's accurate.  "Before" being very, very shortly before.  Acciatura I think.  The music is edited, so there's that.  I'm wondering what it means exactly if Haydn wrote it.  What's does a grace note mean when Haydn writes it, whether it's with or without the slash?

[richard black]

The rule with acciaccaturas is that you put them either on the beat, or before the beat, as feels right at the time. If you want an illustration, listen to the first two seconds of several performances of Mozart's a-minor sonata. Works either way, done with conviction.