Haydn's Sonata in E minor for solo keyboard was composed during his time as concertmaster for Prince Esterházy. Haydn's keyboard sonatas were generally intended for intimate concert settings, and in the case of Sonata HOB. XVI:34, was probably written for the predecessor to the modern piano, the pianoforte. As a result, this work's character and key are well suited to guitar duet and is so idiomatic to the instruments that one could imagine it was originally written with guitars in mind.
This arrangement attempts to preserve to the greatest extent possible Haydn's original slur markings. This often presents the player with four or more consecutive slurred notes or thirds; this is not intended to indicate guitar ligado technique. Rather, these slurs indicate Haydn's groupings of notes in order to best suit the phrasing and articulation in the piece. In a few of the faster more demanding sections I have provided a few single-note slurs, but in all other cases, especially when more than two notes are slurred, it is up to the player to decide what is appropriate in order to best express Haydn's phrasing.
Scott Wolf
