The ten pieces in the so-called Viennese Sketchbook were composed and repeatedly revised at different times between the years 1975 and 1991. Although all of these works openly pay tribute to Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, and Schubert, Ford's treatment of traditional materials remains strikingly original, without a hint of academic constraint or self-conscious imitation.
The Andantino in G Major is another finely crafted study in rondo form after the manner of Haydn, with a particularly striking section in G minor that throws the cheerful, elegantly mannered mood of the principal theme into high relief.