The b-minor Sonata is part of a group of six piano sonatas which, according to Haydn’s own handwritten catalogue of works, was composed in 1776. The autograph has not survived, and the first edition of 1778 was not authorised. However, numerous copyist’s manuscripts have survived in which Haydn had his six sonatas disseminated. The separate Urtext edition from the volumes containing Haydn’s complete piano sonatas presents this transmission, which is quite typical for the composer, in a way that is optimally comprehensible for every Haydn enthusiast. The musical text, edited according to all the rules of the art on the basis of the Haydn Complete Edition, is supplemented by ergonomic fingerings by Stephen Hough – and thus offers the ideal conditions to discover this treasure among Haydn’s sonatas.
G. Henle Publishers stands for Urtext sheet music of the highest quality. The Urtext editions not only provide the undistorted and authoritative musical text but are also aesthetically pleasing, optimised for practical use and extremely durable. And then there is the strong, distinctive blue profile: (almost) all of the Urtext editions are bound in the characteristic blue cardboard.
Musicians trust Henle's blue Urtext editions because they:
- provide an undistorted, reliable and authoritative musical text
- offer superb, aesthetically appealing music engraving
- are optimised for practical use (page turns, fingerings)
- are of high quality and durable (cover, paper, binding)
- contain a short preface that introduces the work (particularly useful for AMEB exams) in German, English and French, as well as explanatory footnotes for particularly interesting passages in the score
- contain a description of the sources, an evaluation of the sources, readings and a documentation of the corrections made (= "Critical Report") in German and English, and often also in French
