1767 – The Music part 2 – Variations on a genre

Hob. #	Genre	Key	Instruments / Notes
4:05	Divertimento à Tre	Eb	Horn, Violin & Cello
10:07	Sonata	D	Baryton & Cello
11:31 - 48	Trio	D, A, A, D, A, D, G, A, D, D, D, D, D, D, D, A, G, D	Baryton, Viola & Cello Book 2
11:49 - 52	Trio	G, D, A, D	Baryton, Viola & Cello Book 3
15:39	Trio	F	Keyboard trio arranged from movements from various keyboard sonatas

History is actually the documentation of the tradeoffs which are presented by life. Without being able to know 'what if…?', we can only surmise the probability of not even having heard of Haydn if Prince Paul Esterházy hadn't been in the right place at the right time when Haydn's talents suddenly came on the market. And a year later when Paul died, his brother Nicholas was an even greater music fan who turned Haydn into an international treasure for the ages. So where is the tradeoff?

It could be argued, if one was inclined to do so, that the kernel of a chamber music specialist which we saw being formed ten years earlier, was channeled away from small ensemble music into areas which Nicholas preferred. There is certainly a great amount of truth in this statement, presented baldly like this. But let's add some context and then see how things shake out.

The Music Room at Eisenstadt

To start with, something which rarely receives enough emphasis to divert modern opinion is the fact that in Haydn's time, especially pre-1780, symphonies were 'chamber music'. Fifteen musicians was considered a large ensemble with endless possibilities. The only other purposes for symphonies at the time were in church and to open a play or opera. In church, the fifteen musicians were more than enough, given the acoustic. At an opera or play, little if any augmentation was required. So here's the deal: if you can afford to have a 'chamber group' in your employ, then you can afford the 30x60' living room for them to set up in! Is it any real mystery why music was the domain of the super-wealthy until then? Which includes 'community wealth' like the Church? So, big chamber, big music to match.

Another huge consumer of Haydn's time and musical invention in the mid-'60's was the Baryton Trios and other music for baryton, all chamber music, of course. With the eventual demise of the baryton within Haydn's lifetime all of this wonderful music was consigned to near-oblivion, except for the fraction which had been transposed for other instruments. And so all of the time and ingenuity spent by Haydn went to support this rather odd predilection of the Prince. Ultimately, what was the trade? Well, everything else which has passed down to us which we might have been deprived of if history had evolved differently. So, a tradeoff, but hardly a big price to pay. I would have liked some more string trios though…

All this is not to say we don't get a gem or two of the non-Baryton variety though. An good example is the Divertimento à Tre which Haydn composed for Carl Frantz, his virtuoso hornist at the time. This work was more than just an exercise for the horn player. Perhaps there is some unspoken tradition in Austria called 'smite the hornist'? The object of the game appears to be writing totally exposed parts which can scarcely be blown. See if he trips over his lip and falls down. Haydn does this routinely, and Mozart followed in his footsteps. In this case, in addition to the chromatic runs all over the upper range of the instrument, Haydn throws in frequent pedal notes for him, underpinning those moments where the violin takes the lead. Since changing from upper range to lower requires a different embouchure (how the facial muscles interact with the mouthpiece), this work is challenging for today's hornists even, it must have been more so for a natural hornist. A great opportunity for Frantz to show his abilities!

Of course, this is still the peak years of production for baryton music. We infer from the slightly available evidence a production of twenty-two more this year, since the second volume of twenty-four was published in September. Once again I bemoan the fact these were considered to be occasional music, so to speak, and quantity and newness were more treasured, apparently, than quality. If there were only a dozen of these works extant, they would be dissected and examined and subsequently put on a pedestal. With 126 of them, nearly all still intact and complete, their varied beauties can scarcely be contemplated. And there are some beauties here, too. The Cantabile opening movement of #42, for example with its long, Adagio melodic line, would be a highlight if it were found in a group of quartets. Trio #52 closes with the Menuet alla zoppa (Limping minuet) which we discovered in the contemporaneous Symphony #58. It is perhaps even a bit more intriguing in the smaller scale, since it can be mentally dissected and appreciated far more easily. In fact, virtually every one of these trios has at least one movement which is memorable and uniquely interesting. As a group, they hold up well to appreciative listening!

Finally, we move on to one of those quasi-spurious works which no one, really, has the final say on. Although all of the experts have something to say, as you would expect. I'm not even an expert, but I have something to say too. So this would be Hoboken 15:39, published in 1767 as 5 Triosatzen (Keyboard movements) for Keyboard, Violin & Cello. So what do we make of this? Four of the five movements are lifted whole from Haydn's contemporaneous keyboard sonatas. One is the Allegro from sonata Hob 9, another is the first movement of Hob 8. The Menuet & Trio are actually not a pair, the minuet coming from Hob 9, the Trio from Hob 5. There is also a slow movement (Andante) of unknown origin. If you look up Hob 16:5, 8 & 9, you come up with a date of 1757 – 1760. This is probably a more accurate dating for this trio, since 1767 is really just the date when Hummel published it.

So what do we make of this? Do we want to listen to it? On the one hand, there is no knowing for sure who wrote the violin & cello parts. One will say they aren't done the way Haydn would do them. I have my doubts about statements like that. They are too frequently made in order to buttress an argument which doesn't exist otherwise. On the other side, there is no doubt the sonatas themselves are composed by Haydn. And as we have already seen, keyboard trios in those times were actually keyboard sonatas with the accompaniment of etc.. It is easy to be of two minds about works like this, but if you have a recording, there is no reason at all, that I can tell, for you to not listen to it with interest. I do. It helps to make up for the many works of chamber music (modern definition) which Haydn didn't have time to compose at the time.

Next time, a pair of keyboard sonatas which he DID have time to compose, and a major piece of sacred music which eventually shaped the course of his career.

Thanks for reading!