To the Editor:

Michael Beckerman'scomments on the Haydn sonata forgeries [ "All Right, So Maybe HaydnDidn't Write Them. So What?" May 15 ] are ill informed.

Hisclaim that "not a single musician or scholar is willing to say for surewhether, on the basis of the score alone, these pieces are by Haydn" isfalse. In 1993, scholars at the Joseph Haydn Institute in Cologne(which publishes the complete edition of Haydn's music) undertook athorough investigation. Their conclusion that the works are modernforgeries was clearly stated in their press release of Dec. 14: "Theworks exhibit a host of technical faults, as well as inconsistencies inthematic construction and large-scale form . . . that arise fromcompositional insufficiency."

In my opinion, the sonatas arenot only badly composed but thoroughly un-Haydnesque. I do not believeHaydn could have written them. Indeed, as far as I know all the Haydnscholars who have seen the music agree -- all, that is, except H. C.Robbins Landon and Paul and Eva Badura-Skoda (the only ones Dr.Beckerman cites).

However, in numerous earlier cases both Mr.Landon and Dr. Eva Badura-Skoda have uncritically accepted dubiousworks as genuine Haydn. It is not "understandable," as Dr. Beckermanclaims, that they should have "jumped the gun by assuming that thepieces were authentic before they had time to examine the manuscript."On the contrary, this was irresponsible scholarly behavior, whichcannot be excused by the supposed musical qualities of the forgeries.

Dr.Beckerman also refers to the works as "first-rate forgeries." Hisbizarre conclusion, that "one can love fake Haydn sonatas, maybe evenmore than the real ones," follows the confession that "one can bedeeply moved by the compositions of one's children." Indeed one can,but only a fool would suppose that they bear comparison to Haydn's.

Throughoutthe Western esthetic tradition, authorship has been -- and remains -- aprimary component of the reception of artworks. The fact that theseforgeries will soon disappear, far from "throwing our notions ofesthetics into a tizzy," amply confirms them. JAMES WEBSTER Ithaca, N.Y.