This Sonata is one of the most beautiful Sonatas that the great Austrian composer delivered, and even though he was only twenty-eight years old when he composed it, clearly shows the degree of musical maturity on his part.

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Why is it important to analyse a piece?

Haydn Piano Sonata XVI.2 in Bb

The importance of analysing a piece before playing it is paramount for piano students and piano teachers alike. 

It provides an insight into the structure, the inner core of the music made so long ago. The composers give hints of their intentions; some are clear-cut. Still, others are not so obvious for the naked eye, and that is precisely the reason why all piano tutors should encourage to analyse the pieces to their students before approaching the technical issues that may arise from its study.

The decisions we will make upon it will depend on the analysis before the playing of the Sonata: which elements are the most important, or structural, or others can be mere ornamentations of the main themes. 

In the case of this Sonata, for example, Maestro Alvaro Sisti, starts with an insightful comment regarding the initial speed of the first Movement: "Even though the first movements are usually meant to be played fast, in Haydn's music it's normal to find tempos slightly slower, in which the subdivided value is the main characteristic of the beat. The bars are in 2/4 time signature, but its moderate tempo makes very easy to listen to a solid and firm rhythm of marked groups of four quavers each bar, something usual in classic subdivided moderate pieces."

How does it help the analysis in this piece?

The scrutiny upon the piece helps us to be aware of the whole arch of the piece. In the case of this Sonata, Haydn follows the "Sonata form" in the strictest way: Exposition-Development-Re-Elaboration.

But we can also be able to find original trades as well, such as in the Re-exposition when something extremely unusual happens: "The last bars of the coda use resources that have been shown up first in the bridge of the Exposition. In the Recapitulation, this bridge will not happen. So, we can say that Haydn re-introduced the bridge before the Recapitulation and not during the Recapitulation itself."

IN CONCLUSION

To analyse a piece is to see it under a spyglass, to identify original features, to bring the inner structure into the light, and finally, to acquire a profound understanding of the subtleties of the composer's craft, which in the case of Joseph Haydn we can ascertain, are many to disclose!