1750-1799 Piano Trio

Question 0

Discuss the reputation of the quality of Haydn’s piano trios.

Answer 0

• Haydn’s early trios (the first 17) are considered minor works and are seldom played except in the context of complete editions.
• In contrast, the later trios (Nos.18-45), starting in the mid-1780s, reflect the composer’s full musical maturity and are greatly admired by critics.
• The dominance of the piano part does not imply that the late trios are not of the highest quality. Haydn’s trios are, along with the Mozart concertos, some of the most brilliant piano works before Beethoven. The late works especially are brilliantly virtuosic, exploiting the full idiomatic range of the instrument. They are also among the most harmonically adventurous of his works in any genre, often reaching into remote keys via enharmonic modulations. As such they are challenging essays for both players and listeners.

Question 1

Name 3 piano trios ca.1750-1799.

Answer 1

Joseph Haydn
Piano Trio No. 23 in E flat major, Hoboken 15/10 (1785)
Piano Trio No. 35 in C major, Hoboken 15/21 (1794)

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Piano Trio No. 5 in C major for Piano, Violin, and Violoncello, K. 548 (1788)

Question 2

How many piano trios did Haydn write?

Answer 2

Haydn write some 45 piano trios.

Early Piano Trios
No. 1 in F major, Hoboken 15/37 (1766)
No. 2 in C major, Hoboken 15/C1 (1766)
No. 3 in G major, Hoboken 14/6 (1767)
No. 4 in F major, Hoboken 15/39 (1767)
No. 5 in G minor, Hoboken 15/1 (1766)
No. 6 in F major, Hoboken 15/40 (1766; exists with a different slow movement as the piano concerto Hob. 18/7)
No. 7 in G major, Hoboken 15/41 (1767)
No. 8 in D major, Hoboken 15/33 (1771; lost)
No. 9 in D major, Hoboken 15/D1 (1771; lost)
No. 10 in A major, Hoboken 15/35 (1771)
No. 11 in E major, Hoboken 15/34 (1771)
No. 12 in E flat major, Hoboken 15/36 (1774)
No. 13 in B flat major, Hoboken 15/38 (1769)
No. 14 in F minor, Hoboken 15/f1 (1760)
No. 15 in D major, Hoboken 15/deest (missing)
No. 16 in C major, Hoboken 14/C1 (1766)
No. 17 in F major, Hoboken 15/2 (ca. 1767-71)

Later Piano Trios
No. 18 in G major, Hoboken 15/5 (1784)
No. 19 in F major, Hoboken 15/6 (1784)
No. 20 in D major, Hoboken 15/7 (1784)
No. 21 in B flat major, Hoboken 15/8 (1784)
No. 22 in A major, Hoboken 15/9 (1785)
No. 23 in E flat major, Hoboken 15/10 (1785)
No. 24 in E flat major, Hoboken 15/11 (1788)
No. 25 in E minor, Hoboken 15/12 (1788)
No. 26 in C minor, Hoboken 15/13 (1789)
No. 27 in A flat major, Hoboken 15/14 (1790)
No. 28 in D major, Hoboken 15/16 (1790)
No. 29 in G major, Hoboken 15/15 (1790)
No. 30 in F major, Hoboken 15/17 (1790)
No. 31 in G major, Hoboken 15/32 (1792)

Three trios (H. 18–20) dedicated to Princess Maria Anna, wife of Prince Anton Esterházy:
No. 32 in A major, Hoboken 15/18 (1793)
No. 33 in G minor, Hoboken 15/19 (1793)
No. 34 in B flat major, Hoboken 15/20 (1794)

Three trios (H. 21–23) dedicated to Princess Maria Josepha, wife of Prince Nicholas Esterházy:
No. 35 in C major, Hoboken 15/21 (1794)
No. 36 in E flat major, Hoboken 15/22 (1794)
No. 37 in D minor, Hoboken 15/23 (1794)

Three trios (H. 24–26) dedicated to Rebecca Schroeter:
No. 38 in D major, Hoboken 15/24 (1795)
No. 39 in G major, Hoboken 15/25 (1795) “Gypsy”
No. 40 in F sharp minor, Hoboken 15/26 (1795)

Two stand-alone trios (H. 31,30):
No. 41 in E flat minor, Hoboken 15/31 (1797)
No. 42 in E flat major, Hoboken 15/30 (1797)

Three trios (H. 27–29) “Bartolozzi Trios” dedicated to Theresa Jansen (Bartolozzi):
No. 43 in C major, Hoboken 15/27 (1797)
No. 44 in E major, Hoboken 15/28 (1797)
No. 45 in E flat major, Hoboken 15/29 (1797)

Question 3

How many piano trios did Mozart compose?

Answer 3

Mozart wrote 6 piano trios and 1 incomplete trio.

Piano Trio No. 1 – Divertimento à 3 in B-flat major for Piano, Violin and Violoncello, K. 254 (1776)
Piano Trio No. 2 – Trio (Sonata) in G major for Piano, Violin and Violoncello, K. 496 (1786)
Piano Trio No. 3 – Trio in B-flat major for Piano, Violin and Violoncello, K. 502 (1786)
Piano Trio No. 4 – Trio in E major for Piano, Violin and Violoncello, K. 542 (1788)
Piano Trio No. 5 – Trio in C major for Piano, Violin and Violoncello, K. 548 (1788)
Piano Trio No. 6 – Trio in G major for Piano, Violin and Violoncello, K. 564 (1788)

Other
Piano Trio in D minor for Piano, Violin and Violoncello, K. 442 (1785–87?) (incomplete)

Question 4

Piece: Mozart piano trio.

Answer 4

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Piano Trio No. 5 in C major for Piano, Violin, and Violoncello, K. 548 (1788)

• 1. The first movement opens with a call to attention before the piano announces the principal theme, then taken up by the violin. A transition leads to the secondary theme and the opening figure of the movement returns in G minor to start the central development with its characteristic interplay between the three instruments. The same figure starts the recapitulation and returns once more in the final coda.
• 2. The moving F major Andante cantabile, as elsewhere in these trios, suggests the world of Mozart’s piano concertos.
• 3. It is followed by a final sonata-rondo movement in 6/8, the theme introduced by the piano before the more forceful statement of the subject by the whole ensemble. Other themes appear in G major and in C minor, duly framed by the principal theme.

Question 5

Piece: Haydn piano trio, C.

Answer 5

Joseph Haydn: Piano Trio No. 35 in C major, Hoboken 15/21 (1794)

• The three Piano Trios, Hob.XV:21-23, were published in London in 1795, before Haydn left England to return home in August that year. The three Trios were dedicated to Princess Marie Ermenegild Esterházy, wife of the new head of the family, Prince Nicolaus II. This piece, the Piano Trio in C major, Hob.XV:21, is the first of the set.
• 1. The first movement opens with a six-bar introduction, marked Adagio pastorale. This is followed by a sonata form movement, its first subject repeated in the dominant key before the appearance of a secondary theme, over a drone bass. The exposition is repeated before the central development, with a briefly dramatic interpolation, and final recapitulation.
     
     2. The violin introduces the principal theme of the G major slow movement, then taken up and embellished by the piano. This is followed by a minor key version of the theme, which returns in the major, before it is entrusted to the violin, now in E minor, with further modulations leading to the return of the original key and theme.
     3. The last movement, both halves of which are repeated, after a repetition of the first eight bars, is in a modified sonata form, its theme and opening suggesting a rondo.

Question 6

Piece: Haydn piano trio, E-flat.

Answer 6

Joseph Haydn: Piano Trio No. 23 in E flat major, Hoboken 15/10 (1785)
- Haydn’s Piano Trios were written around a time which reflects both changes in keyboard instruments, as the piano replaced the harpsichord, and developments in sonata form. The Trios dating from the earlier years of this period, are lively, eloquent and often innovative works.
- The E flat major Trio, Hob. XV:10 won
particular contemporary praise. More technically
demanding, it provides increased interest in the string
parts, and a challenge in the rapid triplet figuration of the Presto assai of the second movement.