A Stylistic Analysis of the Piano Sonatas of Johann Gottfried Eckard

Piano music, especially the sonata, has· always greatly attracted me. In search for a subject for my thesis, I selected the piano sonatas by Johann Gottfried Eckard, whose works were composed at a crucial time in music history: the crossroad between the Baroque and the Classical eras. The Augsburger Eckard, who settled in Paris in 1758, greatly contributed towards the development of the sonata form in France, which occurred at a time when the foundation of this new form had been established in Europe, but not yet evolved into a relatively standard type. The existing literature on this composer consists of one important study of Eckard\u27s life and work, in addition to general information in articles in periodicals and music histories. No detailed analysis of his music is available. The body of Eckard\u27s published works is small: eight piano sonatas and a minuet. Only in recent years have his compositions been accorded the recognition they deserve by musicologists and performers. This study is an attempt to investigate the technical aspects of Eckard\u27s piano sonatas and to evaluate his position as composer