Program Notes

Franz Josef Haydn (1732-1809)
Piano Trio No. 39 in G Major, Hob. XV:25 Gypsy (1795)

Notes for: August 9, 2011

In 1791, at the age of 58, Haydn was invited to London by a commercial concert promoter, Johann Peter Salomon. During his 18-month stay, he composed and conducted for Salomon’s concerts six of his most successful symphonies, those numbered from 93 through 98. The British response was overwhelming: Haydn was generously compensated, lionized in England’s salons, honored at court, and awarded an honorary degree at Oxford.

Haydn also expanded his horizons in a more intimate sense. Shortly after his arrival in London, he received a letter from a wealthy widow in her early 40s, Rebecca Schroeter, saying she would be pleased to take music lessons from Mr. Haydn whenever it suited him.

Their teacher-student relationship quickly blossomed into one of affection and intimacy. During the coming months, in fact, she wrote him 22 letters of increasing emotional involvement; while the originals have been lost, Haydn copied them into his notebook, which still exists. She further expressed her feelings by sending him presents of soap, buying blocks of tickets for his concerts, and copying music for him.

There is little doubt that Haydn reciprocated her affections. When he returned to London in 1794 for his even more successful second visit, he took rooms near Mrs. Schroeter’s house, and dedicated to her three of his finest piano trios, including the one we hear this evening. Some years later he showed the copies of her letters to his first biographer, identifying them as “letters from an English widow in London who loved me. Though I was 60 years old, she was still loving and amiable, and in all likelihood I would have married her if I had been single.”

Altogether Haydn wrote more than 30 piano trios, but they were nowhere near as venturesome or pioneering as his 104 symphonies and 70 string quartets. In Haydn’s day the piano or its predecessor, the harpsichord, was the favored instrument for family music-making. In keeping with that function, chamber combinations involving the piano were lighter in weight than other instrumental music, and piano trios were commonly designated as sonatas for pianoforte accompanied by a violin and cello.

In contrast, the string quartet developed in Haydn’s hands into a blending of four instrumental parts of approximately equal importance. As he gained experience and self-confidence in trio writing, he emancipated the violin to some extent, using its singing power to reinforce the piano’s sustained melodies. However, he continued to limit the cello to doubling the bass line of the piano, a holdover from its role in Baroque music.

Notwithstanding these limitations, the piano trios are full of fresh and inventive music, particularly in their brilliant writing for the keyboard instrument. Because of their function as salon pieces, they are less formal than the quartets, in spirit and content. For example, a set of variations often replaces the more rigorous sonata form as the first movement, and a dance movement is used to wind things up.

This evening’s trio is the second of the three that Haydn dedicated to Mrs. Schroeter. It begins with a lovely theme and variations in the basic G major, with the violin getting an opportunity in the tracery of the third variation and taking over the melodic line in the minor variation. The violin again has a featured role in the simple and prayer-like E major slow movement. The trio closes with one of Haydn’s best known movements, a high-spirited rondo, Rondo a l’Ongarese, nick-named the “Gypsy Rondo”, in the style which Haydn had brought with him to England from Hungary.

Copyright © 2011 by Willard J. Hertz

Notes for: July 12, 2016

In 1791, at the age of 58, Haydn was invited to London by a commercial concert promoter, Johann Peter Salomon. During his 18-month stay, he composed and conducted for Salomon’s concerts six of his most successful symphonies – numbers 93 through 98. The British response was overwhelming: Haydn was generously compensated, lionized in England’s salons, honored at court, and awarded an honorary degree at Oxford.

Shortly after arriving in London, Haydn received a letter from Rebecca Schroeter, a wealthy widow in her early 40s, who wished to take music lessons from him. Their teacher-student relationship quickly blossomed into one of mutual affection. She wrote him 22 emotional letters, which Haydn copied into his notebook. She also expressed her feelings by sending him presents, buying tickets for his concerts, and copying music for him. Clearly, Haydn reciprocated her affections. When he returned to London in 1794 for his even more successful second visit, he took rooms near Mrs. Schroeter’s house, and dedicated to her three of his finest piano trios, including the one we hear this evening. He told his first biographer, “Though I was 60 years old, she was loving and amiable, and I probably would have married her if I had been single.”

Altogether Haydn wrote more than 30 piano trios, but they were nowhere near as venturesome as his 104 symphonies and 70 string quartets. In Haydn’s day the piano – or its predecessor, the harpsichord – was the most prestigious instrument for family music-making. Therefore, chamber combinations with the piano were lighter than other instrumental music. Further, the piano was the center of attention, and piano trios were commonly designated “sonatas for pianoforte with the accompaniment of a violin and violin cello.”

In general, Haydn followed the piano trio format of the period with the piano dominant. As he gained experience in trio writing, he emancipated the violin to some extent, using its singing power to reinforce the piano’s sustained melodies. However, he continued to limit the cello to doubling the bass line of the piano – a holdover from its continuo role in Baroque music. Haydn’s piano trios are full of fresh and inventive music, particularly in their brilliant writing for the keyboard. Because they are salon pieces, they tend to be more informal than the quartets in spirit and content. For example, a set of variations often replaces the more rigorous sonata form as the first movement, and a dance movement is used to wind things up.

This evening’s trio is the second of the three that Haydn dedicated to Mrs. Schroeter. It begins with a lovely theme and variations in the basic G major, a repetition from the violin in the third variation, then presenting the melodic line in the minor variation. The violin is featured again in the simple and prayer-like E-major slow movement. The trio closes with one of Haydn’s best-known movements – a high-spirited rondo captioned by Haydn “in the gypsy style,” that resembles Hungarian music.

Copyright © 2016 by Willard J. Hertz