Trio in G major Hob XV:15
Allegro
Andante
Finale: Allegro Moderato
Haydn spent most of his creative life as the employee of the princely Ezsterhazy family, but a new contract signed in 1779 meant that the composer was no longer obliged to write music exclusively for his noble employers. Keen to augment his income, he struck deals with the Viennese publisher Artaria, and William Forster of London, and wrote music in the most fashionable genres of the day. This meant chamber music for domestic consumption; quartets, reductions of symphonies, and piano trios – the latter enjoying a particular vogue in Paris and London. This trio is one of a set of three written in 1790, presumably for this market. It is unusual amongst Haydn’s many trios in that it was originally written for flute, rather than violin. We know that the flute was the amateur’s instrument of choice in the capitals of late 18th Century Europe; the shrewd Haydn knew his public well. Like most of Haydn’s trios, it is in three movements, without a Minuet.
R. G. Bratby
Copyright Classical Notes.co.uk 2000
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