Piano Trio in E flat major H.XV/29 (1796)

The most intriguing aspect of Haydn’s late piano trios – the dozen or so dating from round the time of his two visits to London in the 1790s – is the apparent contradiction between their conventional scoring and the entirely unconventional quality of everything else about them. When Haydn started writing trios for violin, cello and harpsichord or piano in the 1760s, it might well have been a wise precaution to have the cello double the bass line of the keyboard instrument. After twenty or thirty years of development in piano technology, it was no longer necessary to tie the cello down in this way – as Mozart had demonstrated in four masterfully democratic examples of the form in the late 1780s and as Beethoven had recently confirmed.

The advantage of the old arrangement was that Haydn was completely at ease with it and so secure in the textural area that he could take risks in others. The Piano Trio in E flat – one of three written in about 1796 and dedicated to Theresa Jansen, a talented pianist and one of the most successful music teachers in London – is a particularly inspired example. The peculiarity of the first movement is that it contrives to combine elements of variation form and rondo form without conforming to either.

Although the Poco allegretto is not unadventurous in harmony, the most remarkable movement in this respect is the Andante ed innocentemente that follows. By setting it in the precariously remote key of B major Haydn transports it to another, more innocent world. As it turns out, however, it is not so much a fully developed slow movement, in spite of the long-term potential of its delicately beautiful main theme, as an introduction to the Finale – which it approaches by gradually aligning itself to the E flat major in which that jovial Presto assai begins. Based on a German country dance, or “allemande” in Haydn’s terminology, it is a brilliantly witty commentary on rustic musicianship.

The most intriguing aspect of Haydn’s late piano trios – the dozen or so dating from round the time of his two visits to London in the 1790s – -is the apparent contradiction between their conventional scoring and the entirely unconventional quality of everything else about them. When Haydn started writing trios for violin, cello and harpsichord or piano in the 1760s, it might well have been a wise precaution to have the cello double the bass line of the keyboard instrument. After twenty or thirty years of development in piano technology, it was no longer necessary to tie the cello down in this way – as Mozart had demonstrated in four masterfully democratic examples of the form in the late 1780s and as Beethoven had recently confirmed. Haydn, however, continued much as before, allowing the violin some semblance of equality with the piano but leaving the cello on the bass line as an undeviating companion to the pianist’s left hand.

The advantage of that arrangement was that Haydn was completely at ease with it and so secure in the textural area that he could take risks in others. The Piano Trio in E flat – one of three written in about 1796 and dedicated to Theresa Jansen, a talented pianist and one of the most successful music teachers in London – is a particularly inspired example. The peculiarity of the first movement is that it contrives to combine elements of variation form and rondo form without conforming to either. Like a set of variations, it is based on just one theme, a cheerful tune introduced by violin and piano in the opening bars. As in a rondo, on the other hand, that main theme regularly recurs in its original melodic form and its original harmonies. The episodes between those landmark reappearances of the theme, including a particularly imaginative departure in the minor, are all variations on it.

Although the Poco allegretto is not unadventurous in harmony, the most remarkable movement in this respect is the Andante ed innocentemente that follows. By setting it in the precariously remote key of B major Haydn transports it to another, more innocent world. As it turns out, however, it is not so much a fully developed slow movement, in spite of the long-term potential of its delicately beautiful main theme, as an introduction to the Finale, which it approaches by gradually aligning itself to the E flat major in which that jovial Presto assai begins. Based on a German country dance, or “allemande” in Haydn’s terminology, it is a brilliantly witty commentary on rustic musicianship with the left hand of the piano twice insisting on contradicting the rhythm in the right and, towards the end, all three instruments indulging in an extravagant parody of a village band.