Introduzione e Allegro alla Polacca

My Introduzione e Allegro alla Polacca was commissioned by Trio Gaspard as part of their Haydn project. It is a modest tribute to the inimitable art of Haydn, which had an important impact on me already quite early in my musical life. When I was something like 7 to 9 years old, an important part of my piano lessons consisted of playing
piano duets with my teacher Ralf Gothóni. We went through a large amount of repertoire, also including four-hand arrangements of many symphonies and string quartets of Haydn. Around the same time I also started playing his piano trios and sonatas. So his musical language was a very important part of the musical landscape of my very early years as a musician. In Introduzione e Allegro alla Polacca one can hear a homage to the adventurous, astounding and mysterious chains of modulations often found in his music, as well as his boyish and most endearing sense of humour, so full of sunshine.
(Olli Mustonen)