Piano Trio in G major Hob.XV:25 “Gypsy Rondo” (1795)

Of Haydn’s last fourteen piano trios, twelve of them were written for women – all of them pianists, whose personalities are reflected in the parts he wrote for them. There are no better examples of that than the three works published in 1795 with a dedication to Rebecca Schroeter, the “amiable widow” the composer had met in London four years earlier. The Andante first movement of the Piano Trio in G major is a sociable set of variations which retains the equality of the two instruments throughout. The Poco adagio is a very much more private affair, the piano opening the conversation with a tender statement in E major, the violin responding with a passionate reply in A major, the two of them joining in unison on the return of the opening theme.

What Mrs Schroeter made of the last movement – headed “Rondo in the Gyspsies’ stile” in the original English edition – it is difficult to imagine. For Haydn, who had heard Hungarian gypsy bands at Esterhaza, it was familiar material. For an amateur pianist in London it must have seemed very strange indeed. It is still highly effective for the reckless brilliance of the main theme and the exotic quality of the two episodes in minor keys.