Glenn Gould plays Haydn sonata No 59 in E flat major Hob XVI 49 (3/3)

[JamesDestry1]

Fuck Motzart: Haydn takes the cake.

[musictheory123]

@maurisk78

This tempo is not too slow given that Haydn wrote tempo di minuetto. A menuet is a dance that could not be performed according to the wild tempi of today's instrumental performers. Granted nobody is dancing in this piano sonata, It is quite refreshing for someone like Gould to hearken back to the origins of the form. If Haydn had written tempo di scherzo, which evolved out of the menuet, and was much livelier, I would agree with you by all means, but thats not in the score.

[Libellebr]

When was it recorded?

[maurisk78]

This tempo is too slow for the final of this sonata.

[Euclid34]

i agree. this mvmt is supposed to be funny, energetic, brisk, etc. after that long 2nd mvmt. especially with all the repeats in the 3rd.

[Garpinator]

@Euclid34 You are thinking of a Scherzo (which means joke), as musictheory123 points out, this is a minuet, a rather complex and stately dance with a more moderate tempo.