Haydn 250th Birthday Celebration
Pianist Ronald Farren-Price marks Haydn’s 250th birthday with three major keyboard works: the Sonatas in E minor and C minor, and the Variations in F minor.
These performances come from a 1982 recital celebrating the anniversary. The C minor sonata is among Haydn’s most intense Sturm und Drang statements; the later E minor sonata offers brilliance and rococo craft; the F minor variations close the programme in a mature double-variation form long associated with Mozart’s memory.
The recording was made in the studios of the Australian Broadcasting Commission, Melbourne.
Reviews
While the convincing piano sound is a function of the recording engineers, the startling clarity of the music is simply the result of Farren-Price being immersed in that, and not in the technicalities of how to play it. I wish this fine recording a long and distinguished life, bringing to music lovers all over the world the same delight and satisfaction it has brought to me.
The opening E minor sonata was highly arresting in its threatening elegance. Farren-Price seemed hardly to falter in this glittering work; his technique was well matched to the built-in passion of the score.
... able to convey many of the wonders of these rarely heard works.
Artists

Franz Joseph Haydn
Franz Joseph Haydn (1732–1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period, central to the making of the symphony, the string quartet and the piano trio. A vast body of chamber, orchestral and sacred music from his long career shaped the language of his age.

Ronald Farren-Price
Ronald Farren-Price is an Australian concert pianist of rare artistry, sensitivity and virtuosity. Clarity of expression and firmness of touch are the hallmarks of his style, which brings bold nobility to each performance.
Tracks
- i. Presto 3:21
- ii. Adagio 3:49
- iii. Vivace molto – innocentemente 3:46
- i. Moderato 6:14
- ii. Andante con moto 4:41
- iii. Finale – Allegro 3:38
- Variations in F minor, Hob. XVII:6 Franz Joseph Haydn 20:32
Sonata in E minor No. 53, Hob. XVI:34 Franz Joseph Haydn
Sonata in C minor No. 33, Hob. XVI:20 Franz Joseph Haydn
Performers
Contributors
Cover design
Arthur Horner
Liner notes
George Tibbits
George Tibbits (1933–2008) was an Australian composer and architect. Self-taught in music, he wrote some forty-five works—among them five string quartets—nearly all given professional performances.
Photograph
Howard Birnstihl
Howard Birnstihl is a photographer whose cover, exterior and general photography appears across many Move Records releases from the late 1970s into the 2000s.

Layout
Martin Wright
Recording engineer and director of Move Records, Martin Wright has well over fifty years’ experience in the industry and has been widely recognised for the calibre of his recordings.
Where to listen
Haydn 250th Birthday Celebration is available for streaming through Spotify and Apple Music. It can also be purchased through the iTunes Music Store.
Haydn 250th Birthday Celebration is available as a CD. It can be purchased online through Buywell Music or the Australian Music Centre which both offer online ordering.
Product details
- Catalogue number
- MD 3047
- List price
- $20.00 AUD
- Total playing time
- 46 minutes 1 seconds
- Producer
- Margaret Hetherington
- Recording Engineer
- Linton Bryant
Peter Thorp - Credit
- Arthur Horner
George Tibbits
Howard Birnstihl
Martin Wright - Release date
- 1982
- Musical work
copyright - © 1982 Australian Broadcasting Corporation
- Sound recording
copyright - ℗ 1982 Move Records
- Category
- Classical
- Genre
- Classical Era
- Barcode
- EAN 9314574304725
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