Franz Joseph HAYDN (1732-1809)
Piano Trio (Divertimento) in C major, Hob.XV:C1 (1766?) [18:13]
Piano Trio (Partita) in F minor, Hob.XV:f1 (before 1760?) [13:33]
Piano Trio (Sonata) in G major, Hob.XIV:6 (before 1767) [11:59]
Piano Trio No 1 (Partita / Divertimento) in G minor, Hob.XV:1 (before 1766) [13:03]
Piano Trio No 2 (Divertimento) in F major, Hob.XV:2 (1769?) [12:46]
Aquinas Piano Trio
rec. February 2021, Trinity Concert Hall, Trinity School, Croydon, UK
NAXOS 8.574361 [69:54]
It’s always a real delight to review a new CD by artists you have already heard live on a number of occasions in the past. Moreover, when it’s a disc of early Haydn Piano Trios – Volume Five in Naxos’s well-respected Piano Trio Series – it should be something special.
As is the norm, the CD booklet begins with a general biography of the composer, which is probably pretty familiar to most music-lovers. There is, though, one point worth emphasizing, with regards Haydn’s time at the new palace of Eszterháza on the Hungarian plains. In his role as Kapellmeister, he was responsible for everything musical. Since the reigning Prince Nikolaus was an amateur chamber-music player, there was always a real incentive for the composer to come up with new pieces to perform, and particularly given that the Prince’s preferred instrument was the fairly uncommon baryton. This is a bowed string instrument of the viol family, with six or seven gut strings arranged over a fretted fingerboard, plus a lower set of wire strings, which was eventually superseded by the cello.
Like many composers of the time, Haydn’s keyboard music was initially written for the harpsichord, with later works clearly intended for the piano, as the dynamic markings imply. His career coincided with changes in the standard keyboard instrument, as the fortepiano, and then the pianoforte, with their hammer, rather than plucked action, and offering far greater dynamic possibilities, gradually replaced the harpsichord around the start of the 1700s.
Along with these key instrumental developments, musical forms and structures also followed suit, the most important being the sonata-allegro, or ‘First-movement Form’, which, as the name suggests, was used mainly in the opening movements of both chamber and symphonic music, but sometimes in other movements too. The booklet informs us that Haydn left some thirty keyboard trios, as well as ten or so additional works listed as Divertimentos, but which are generally given the title of Sonata, whether for harpsichord or piano, ‘with the accompaniment of violin and cello’.
The earliest works of this kind date from about 1760, under the title of Divertimento or Partita, with the first of his officially-named piano trios dating from 1784, and the last from 1797. In fact, according to some sources, the composer is credited with forty-five trios in total. Haydn’s longevity, at a time when documentation was also rather patchy, meant that he did not always remember what he had written – or when. It was not until 1803 – six years before the composer’s death – that his servant and clerical assistant, Josef Elsler set about compiling a complete list of Haydn’s compositions. This was replaced, years later, by Dutch musicologist, Anthony van Hoboken (1887-1983), who created the Hoboken catalogue, today’s standard scholarly inventory of Haydn’s works.
The disc opens with the Piano Trio (Divertimento) in C major, Hob.XV:C1, but according to the notes, ‘lacks the relative authenticity conveyed by its inclusion in the 1803 listing, leading some to attribute it to keyboard player, and prolific composer, Georg Christoph Wagenseil (1715-1777), who, himself, had made a noteworthy contribution to the keyboard style that figured prominently in the ongoing transition from the Baroque suite to the Classical sonata.
All the trios on the CD conform to a three-movement design, the only variant, apart from tonality, being the order of the respective movements. For example, this first trio opens with an Allegro moderato, which is followed by a Minuetto and Trio. Both movements are essentially in the same key, although there is more harmonic variety in the minor-based Trio. The Minuetto movement is followed by an Andante con variazioni, the theme of which just happens to be in triple-meter again, and in the home key, too. There is undoubtedly more excitement in the fourth and sixth variations, but, even if I hadn’t read that Haydn might not be the composer, I didn’t really feel that, even in such an early work, conjectured to date from 1766, the composer’s quintessential style is present in every bar, despite the stalwart efforts of the three performers. Simply put, I needed a little more convincing that this was indeed the unadulterated and original work of the Austrian master.
The Piano Trio (Partita) in F minor, Hob.XV:f1 dates from before 1760, and apparently its authenticity is supported by its inclusion by the work of the Fürnberg/Morzin copyist employed by Haydn’s early patrons. The first movement – Allegro – opens in the minor key, with contrasting material in the major. The second movement is a Minuet (sic) and Trio, once again in the home key, and, as if the composer was actually intending to avoid variety, the Trio is still in F minor, and somewhat difficult to identify without the score in front of you. However, the Allegro finale is really the first place so far on this new release that has caught my attention, and seems to have more in common with the Haydn I know. In the first two Piano Trios, ornamentation played quite a large part – almost to the point where pianist, Martin Cousin’s superb execution of the plethora of trills really was a noteworthy feature. Similarly in the first two movements here, shared ornamentation is common, while the finale is all about delicacy and technical virtuosity, something the Aquinas players possess in great abundance.
Piano Trio No. 6 (Sonata) in G major, Hob.XIV:6, was written before 1767, and opens with a stately, march-like Allegro, interspersed with triplet figurations, and again a fair degree of ornamentation. As is usually par for the course with the composer’s earlier trios, the melodic interest is generally given to the keyboard, with other instruments largely providing accompaniment, or quite simple linear harmonic lines. For the first time, the Adagio that follows is a conventional slow movement, in the tonic minor. It is a really moving little piece, which even accommodates a brief opportunity for an embryonic piano cadenza. Without wishing to be disparaging to Haydn, though, yet again I am not totally convinced of its authenticity. In the early works, minuets are rarely absent, so it comes as no surprise that the concluding movement is another Menuetto and Trio, and where there is some welcome variety with the Trio appearing in the tonic minor key. All very pleasant to listen to, and well-played yet again, but the ‘Wagenseil Connection’, or, in fact, any number of contemporary pre-classical composers, again makes me doubt its real authorship – but then, I’m no specific authority on Haydn.
Piano Trio No. 1 (Partita / Divertimento) in G minor, Hob.XV:1, written before 1766 (possibly between 1760 and 1762), was, according to the booklet, accepted by Haydn as his own work, although he was not always accurate in his acknowledgement of his earlier compositions. It opens with a Moderato – shown with molto added in some editions of the score, and once more looks back to the Baroque, rather than forward to the Classical era – again it is liberally ornamented. The composer places the Menuetto and Trio next, where he features a melodic figure that was known as the ‘Mannheim Skyrocket’ – a rapidly-rising broken-chord figure, as can be heard in the opening of Beethoven’s First Piano Sonata, or the Finale from Mozart’s Symphony No 40. It was a product of the Mannheim School of composers who were active in the second half of the eighteenth century, and included names like Carl Stamitz, Franz Xaver Richter, and Christian Cannabich, all of whom would have been perfectly capable of fashioning a stylistically-similar Minuet, and contrasting Trio in the relative major, as Haydn is assumed to have done here.
The baryton was mentioned earlier, and while it had a relatively short life, it still owes its relative survival largely to Haydn’s 175 works for the instrument. The final piece on the CD was originally for baryton, viola, and cello, which the composer later refashioned into the Piano Trio No. 2 (Divertimento) in F major, Hob.XV:2. Even knowing its genuine origin, there is just something about the opening Allegro, that seems Haydnesque from the outset. I even feel that, subconsciously, or otherwise, the players appear to approach this particular work with a subtly different mind-set. True, Papa Haydn might not have made his mark on every single bar, but fingerprints of his later works are certainly more discernible here. Once again, the Menuetto and Trio that follow, appear so much more Haydn-like, than a good deal of the rest of the CD, a trend that also continues into the Finale – an Adagio con variazioni – which, while ending in a rather understated manner, still manages to inject some real humour towards the end of the third of four variations, with the chirpy little ‘crush notes’, or acciaccaturas, in the busy piano part.
All in all, I did feel that this new release didn’t quite meet my expectations, as set out in my opening paragraph. Every member of the highly-respected Aquinas Trio is a superb performer in their own right, and is involved in a wide-range of music-making, where they hold pinnacle positions and respect, garnered over many years of performing at the highest level. So I have listened again and again, just to see if indeed there is a plausible reason for my slight disappointment overall.
In the first instance, it’s the variable quality of the music, and the fact that, for me, it’s only the final work on the CD that really convinces me of its true parentage. This judgement is made purely on how it sounds, and is not biased by the fact that we know it was already one of Haydn’s Baryton Trios in a former life. Conversely, in a work like the Piano Trio No. 1, which was described above as ‘accepted by Haydn… although he was not always accurate in his acknowledgement of his earlier works’, mine was still a conclusion based solely on what I heard – or perhaps didn’t.
I had mentioned the fact that the earliest piano trios were conceived as works for harpsichord or piano, this being largely date-dependent, ‘with the accompaniment of violin and cello’, something I think ultimately becomes crucial in the final analysis.
The sound engineers have clearly given preference to the piano, which is all perfectly well when the piano is leading, and the violin either playing along in unison, or in parallel thirds or sixths – you wouldn’t want it any other way. But there seem to be many occasions where the violin has something more important to say, but sounds remote and distant on the recording. This even appears to happen sometimes, when the piano right-hand is busy with an accompaniment-type figure – like an ‘Alberti’ pattern, which, by nature, is repetitive, while the lyrical role of the violin appears subordinate, and the music can temporarily seem to lack direction. The role of the cello is interesting, too, as it can often be seen doubling or reinforcing the pianist’s left hand, where, as with the violin, this needs a measured use of dynamics. But there are instances where the cello is involved in delivering important thematic material but which, on the CD, can often be felt to be too loud, yet sometimes too quiet, again which upsets the dynamic balance overall.
In principle the sound engineers have got it right, but crucially seem to have ignored the fact that when early Haydn – ersatz, or otherwise – is played on modern instruments, it’s far easier to leave the question of balance up to the performers. While not specified, I am sure that the keyboard instrument involved in the recording would be at least a semi-concert, or full-concert grand, certainly not a fortepiano, and definitely not a harpsichord. Somehow I feel the recording has largely succeeded in dumbing down any sense of excitement and immediacy, which seems such a pity, if you have heard the trio playing live, and know what they’re really capable of achieving right across the board.
These are three outstanding performers who, I feel, have not been sufficiently well-served, either by the repertoire or the recording, on this particular occasion.
Philip R Buttall
Performers: Ruth Rogers (violin); Katherine Jenkinson (cello); Martin Cousin (piano)
