Thomas Haigh (1769-1808) - Sonata for the Piano Forte (c.1795)
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♫ Recovery project of sheet music by Johann Michael Haydn (1737-1806) and by other neglected composers ♫
Composer: Thomas Haigh (1769-1808)
Work: Sonata (B-flat major) from 'Second sett of three sonatas for the pianoforte or harpsichord ... op. 10' (c.1795)
1. Adagio, allegro 0:00
2. A celebrated air 7:27
Software: Sibelius
Instrument: Square piano (1780) by Philip Schmidt (18th Century)
World Premiere: Yes
Sheet music (pdf): https://vmirror.imslp.org/files/imglnks/usimg/5/55/IMSLP469112-PMLP598507-Second_Sonata_Thomas_Haigh.pdf
Sheet music (xml): https://www.mediafire.com/file/m2u8xv63m1zz613/HAIGH-SonataBDurOp10.xml/file
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Thomas Haigh
(Wakefield, bap. 30 January 1769 - London, 1808)
English composer, violinist and pianist. It is possible that he was the violinist, Mr Haigh, who played in the theatre band in Manchester, and who was responsible for the music in a production of S.W. Ryley’s The Civilian there in 1789. By the early 1790s he was in London. He studied with Joseph Haydn during the latter’s first visit to London in 1791-2 and dedicated his violin sonatas opp.8 and 10 to his famous master. He also arranged many of Haydn’s works (for instance Symphonies nos.70 and 81 and the Armida overture) for the piano. From 1793 to 1801 he lived in Manchester (he is sometimes known as ‘Thomas Haigh of Manchester’); Doane’s Musical Directory of 1794 describes him as a violinist and pianist of Manchester who took part in the Handelian concerts at Westminster Abbey. In 1799 he was elected a member of the Royal Society of Musicians and in 1801 he returned to London. Between 1796 and 1807 he often performed in Ireland. The date of his death is usually given as April 1808, but the publication of several works which seem to date from 1815-19 suggests that 1808 may be too early; posthumous publication of new works was then rare. He was a fluent and prolific composer and a good deal of his work is fresh and imaginative. Gerber may have been right on the whole to suggest that ‘English people will find in it rather the spirit of their own Arne and Boyce than that of a Haydn’, yet there is a general avoidance of rhythmic platitude that seems to show the influence of the Austrian master.