Piano Sonata No.58 Hob.XVI:48, C major

Composed in 1789 for a Leipzig publisher, this late two-movement sonata opens with an Andante con espressione that behaves almost like an improvisation, its theme returning in alternating major and minor variations. The closing rondo is full of the abrupt pauses and comic misdirections that mark Haydn's late humor, where the joke depends on the listener expecting the music to do one thing and finding it does another.