Sonata no. 9

Hob XVI/4

"Although Haydn's transparent classical style has always appeared well-suited to guitar transcription/arrangement, examples have never been com-mon. Itself a setting of the Divertimento in C (Hob. I1/11), this modestly proportioned keyboard sonata proves the idea to be a good one. Adopting the key of D major, Bogdanovic offers a practical working arrangement with detailed but not excessive left-hand fingerings and several clues as to the realisation of the ornaments. Anyone requiring further guidance will find loads of piano footage on YouTube, the first I clicked on confirming that the trills starting at bar 22 of the opening Allegro needn't be executed as anything more fiddly than upper mordents. As is almost always the case, the technical bar is raised considerably in transit, the scale flourishes in the final Air and Variations ensuring that an intermediate keyboard work becomes the exclusive province of the fully-fledged gultarist. An inspired idea that's well worth exploring."

Paul Fowles (Classical Guitar Magazine)