Presents

Franz Josef Haydn

Three String Trios for 2 Violins & Cello, Hob.V C3, G4, and B1

Josef Haydn (1732-1809) needs no introduction. While most chamber music players have either played or heard his string quartets, few are familiar with his string trios. While today the string quartet is the “King” of chamber music ensembles, during the last half of the 18th century, the string trio was the most popular chamber ensemble and virtually all of the active composers lavished their talents on them. As an evolving form, what we today have come to regard as the standard string trio, i.e. a work for violin, viola and cello, most composers did not write for this combination before 1785. Before then, the great majority of string trios were written for 2 violins and cello. Haydn is a case in point. His trios have their origins in the music of the divertimento. Haydn was a leader in the development of the string trio at that time, as in that of the string quartet. About 80 trios by him for various combinations are known, as well as some 126 trios with baryton composed by Haydn for his patron Prince Esterhazy, who loved to play the baryton, an 18th-century bowed stringed instrument similar to the bass viol.

On his manuscripts and in his own Entwerf (draft) Catalog there are approximately 25 trios for two violins and cello. In addition to these there are several which have been found in private libraries of aristocrats such as the famous Pachta Archives in Prague, the property of Count Karl Prachta  and the Artaria Collection in Vienna, the latter which has over 300 of Haydn's manuscripts. It has taken 20th century musicologists to bring order to the works of Mozart, Schubert, Boccherini and Haydn, among others. In the case of Haydn, this was undertaken by the wealthy collector Anthony van Hoboken. His catalog is regarded as more accurate than any given opus number and hence Haydn's works usually have a reference to his catalog, which are given as Hob. followed by a Roman numeral which refers to which volume of the catalog they can be found. Hob.V refers to Haydn's string trios for 2 violins and cello most of which were composed between 1760 and 1770. The style is no longer that of the Baroque but rather that of the emerging Mannheim School which eventually evolved into the Vienna Classical Style pioneered by Haydn. The trio mostly two or three movements although a few have four.

These trios are an excellent choice for amateurs or advanced students looking for trios to present in concert. Our modern edition is based on copies of manuscripts available in the Library of Congress

 Parts: $19.95