Massimo Palumbo - Haydn: Complete Piano Concertos, Vol.1 (2003)

In history, the beginning of the genre of piano or cembalo concertos is usually associated with the name of Johann Sebastian Bach, whose sons had continued the undertaking which their father had begun. Thus, for example, Mozart was influenced by C.P.E. Bach in his own, further development of the genre, the "classical" character of which would become significantly influenced by him. The source of Haydn's inspiration to write piano concertos, and knowledge of appropriate compositions by his contemporaries, cannot be determined for certain, as we do not have any reliable documentation. One thing is certain and that is that Haydn's piano concertos only played a marginal role in his development, say as opposed to the role the symphonies played. This is primarily because before he had entered the employ of the Esterhazy's was the time he spent writing piano concertos and this was before he had developed his own personalized style. Therefore, his early concertos were not very inventive, although they were successful examples of the Vienna concerto style.