1796 – The Music part 2 - Music for home and office - The Last Keyboard Trios

Hob. 15 No.	Landon No.	Key	Genre	Instruments	Note
30	42	Eb	Accompanied Sonata (Keyboard Trio)	Fortepiano, Violin & Cello	for Breitkopf & Härtel
27	43	C			for Therese Jansen-Bartolozzi
28	44	E
29	45	Eb

Domestic music making, ala James Gillray

When we were preparing to leave London and reviewing the music written while there, you may have got a hint that it wasn't quite over yet. And indeed it wasn't. He still had the hugely-admired Mrs. Bartolozzi to take care of, and one other trio, more domestically centered, but which became the final product of the trio workshop. One thing this group shows is that the combination of living in London and returning to Vienna had spurred Haydn on to yet higher efforts when it came to abandoning the 18^th century and being early through the door for the 19^th.

We've talked in the past about Haydn's use of certain genres as models for working out compositional ideas. Back in the late 1760's, for example, there was almost no other discernable reason for him to compose his three sets of string quartets (Opp. 9, 17 & 20) other than as exercises he set for himself while undergoing the 'Complete Course in Composition' which he completed as a 40^th birthday challenge. But by the time he wanted to write more quartets, they were too valuable a commodity to use for pedantry, and had acquired a certain cachet which set them far above mere Hausmusik. In the early 1780's, though, accompanied keyboard sonatas were taking off, and they were still a private enough medium to be just right as workshop material. One sterling example of this is the Adagio of Symphony 102, which began life as the inside movement of Trio Hob. 26 in f#. But the concept of working out ideas is ordinarily far more subtle than overt adaptation. What Haydn was really doing was keeping himself on the leading edge of musical thought, and using a vehicle which was, as he knew, not at all public.

Illustration on title page of Haydn’s piano trio Hob 15:10
(Artaria Op 80) 1798

Because it was the first time such a thing was possible, the latter half of the 18^th century was a period when there was a huge growth in 'private' music. Before this time, there really was no significant middle class tradition of home music-making. When Mozart, in a 1781 letter to his father, called Vienna 'the Land of the Clavier', he wasn't only talking about public performances which would generate income, but also about plugging in to the huge market for giving lessons and writing private music: "As for pupils, I can have as many as I want ...". This was where and how other composers, such as Leopold Koželuch made their real income. And Mozart, too, made a nice share from giving keyboard lessons to upper-middle-class young ladies.

Another important aspect of private music was the growth of the concept of the 'conversation among instruments' idea. This was clearly not present in the chamber music of the 1750's, and only began to manifest after that. Conversational gestures, such as passing an idea or theme around the group of players became the exclusive domain of small group chamber music; orchestral music didn't use it, or at least do it the same way and for the same purpose. When one instrument has the 'lead', and suddenly is playing accompaniment while a formerly accompanying instrument takes the lead, it directly emulates the way a conversation unfolds.

Yet another main function of domestic music was to present players with 'big music' such as pieces from operas and symphonies, arranged in a neat package which could be presented at a soirée, party or salon and provide the player/host with music her audience would know or want to know. Many of these pieces still bore the hallmarks of having originally been orchestral and showpieces, with things such as a 'noise-killer' chord or chords at the beginning (Hob 15:18 and 24) and the orchestral style of the finale of Hob 15:27. And shouldn't have to ask, but can the Gypsy Rondo of Hob 25 be any 'larger' if it were played by an orchestra? The blending of 'public' and 'private' musical styles was already well on its way to accomplishment.

We already saw how Mozart, writing to Leopold in 1782, was concerned about arranging his own work before someone else could:

...Now I'm really up against it — my opera [NB - The Abduction from the Seraglio] must he transcribed for winds by a week from Sunday or else someone will get there ahead of me and reap all my profits; and I'm supposed to be doing a new symphony [NB – The Haffner Symphony (K 385)] as well — how is all that possible! you won't believe how hard it is to transcribe something like this for winds so that it's really perfect for wind instruments and at the same time that the original flavor doesn't get lost — Oh well, I'll have to work nights, otherwise it can't be done — and it is to be dedicated to you, my dearest father — you should be getting something in each mail — and I'll write just as quickly as possible and write as well as haste will allow. —"

And when, in 1787, Haydn scored his '7 Last Words' for string quartet and for solo keyboard, there were doubtless any number of adapters who would have lined up to fulfill Artaria's request if called upon.

The net result of this particular tradition is a blurring of the lines between what one expects from music in a concert hall or in a parlor. The 19^th century took these developments to the level which we expect from concerts today, where in public we expect privacy while in private we expect professional quality, but this is still the 1790's, and people had different expectations. The Era of Liberté – Égalité - Fraternité had not achieved the preeminence which it would soon hold in sorting the social order, but the Enlightenment had lit the flame, and many of the perquisites which had obtained solely to the Upper Classes were now being enjoyed by the wealthier (and bolder?) of the bourgeoisie, too.

One of the major differences in private versus public works is the number of opportunities Haydn leaves for the performer to improvise and invent ornaments. In the late keyboard trios, there are dozens of such opportunities: in the string quartets, for example, there are none. Clearly this isn't coincidental, nor are the opportunities available for the string players to the same extent they are for the keyboardist. As with all of Haydn's trios, these are written for and/or dedicated to women. Amateurs who could really play the keyboard, and might very well welcome an opportunity to show off. True, they were all published and thus available to any interested party, but concern for that aspect doesn't seem to be part of Haydn's agenda. As well, he fully writes out many ornamented repeats, and in such a way as to let them also sound improvised. The net result is that the keyboardist, already a good player, sounds even better through this cooperative venture with the composer.

Farmer Giles & Wife Showing Off Their Daughter, Betty, to the neighbors on Her Return From School
James Gillray 1806 -  Gillray certainly had a way of capturing the times!

What, then was the driving force behind all this creative energy being focused on music? It had to be more than merely an ostentatious display of new riches. I think the entire scene will be well explained in a very few short years by the brilliant Jane Austen. As much as there are differences between Austria and England, which Haydn knows there certainly are, there are also many points of sameness. And one of these is the universal need to find husbands. So women became 'accomplished'. Not educated like men were, that would be asking far too much of a culture which still wasn't ready to admit women had brains too, but very well polished in the arts, literature and music. Also French, Italian and German in particular, as opposed to the Classics such as Latin or Greek.

"no one can be really esteemed 'accomplished' who does not greatly surpass what is usually met with. A woman must have a thorough knowledge of music, singing, drawing, dancing, and the modern languages, to deserve the word; and besides all this, she must possess a certain something in her air and manner of walking, the tone of her voice, her address and expressions, or the word will be but half deserved."   Caroline Bingley – Pride and Prejudice

One of the many points which Austen made during these varied discussions was the sad fact that many women, after succeeding in their goal of nabbing a husband, promptly gave up all of the 'accomplishments' they had attained and many never played again. But the large number of others were well able to entertain themselves, their families and their guests for years to come, in this age before broadcast or recorded music changed everything.

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If we recall back in 1789:

[To CHRISTOPH GOTTLOB BREITKOPF, LEIPZIG. in German]

Estoras, 5^th April 1789.

Well born, Most highly respected Sir !

Through Herr Traeg I am sending you the new pianoforte Sonata, fully hoping that it will meet with the musical world's approbation. I have received the 10 # [ducats] in good order, for which I thank you. As for the other demands in your letter, I cannot accommodate you because I am simply overloaded with work. I would only ask for a clean engraving, and that you send me a few copies. Meanwhile I remain, most respectfully,

Your most obedient servant,

Joseph Haydn.

P.S.: I would ask you at your convenience to send me a few English engravings, but beautiful ones, for I am a great admirer of them; I shall repay you gratefully by something of my work.

A lot of things happened with Haydn between April 1789 and early 1796, many of which we have seen. Clearly something fell through a crack, and now, nearly 7 years later, Breitkopf is asking for his quid pro quo.

[To CHRISTOPH GOTTLOB BREITKOPF¹, LEIPZIG . German]

Vienna, 16^th April 1796.

[Breitkopf's clerk notes: "rec'd the 21^st".]

Nobly born, Most highly respected Sir !

I must apologize a thousand times for not having answered all your letters. Please do not be angry at a man who will never be ungrateful. If you will be patient a little longer, I shall send you the money and the music, and this as surely as I am, Sir, most respectfully,

Your devoted and indebted servant,

Jos: Haydn.

1 - CHRISTOPH GOTTLOB BREITKOPF (1750 - 1800) was the son of Johann Gottlob Immanuel, who had visited Haydn in 1786. The money Haydn owed the firm was probably for the English engravings he had ordered (see letter of 5th April 1789). The promised music was, as the next letter shows, the pianoforte Trio in E flat (No. 30, 1795(6?)), which Breitkopf published as Op. 88.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[To CHRISTOPH GOTTLOB BREITKOPF, LEIPZIG. German]

Vienna, 9th November 1796.

[Breitkopf 's clerk notes: "rec'd 10^th Dec."]

Nobly born, Most highly respected Sir !

The bearer of this letter, Herr Wägl [NB - Weigl] from Vienna, will at last give you the promised pianoforte Sonata together with 15 f. in bank notes: meanwhile I thank you once again and am, Sir, most respectfully,

Your obliging and obedient servant,

Jos: Haydn

Fürstl Esterházyscher Capell Meister.

As with so many other Haydn works, it is difficult to know if this is the very last one or if the Bartolozzi Trios came afterwards. Either way, we find here a different sort of work than the three Bartolozzi trios.

The Breitkopf (Leipzig Germany)/Corri & Dussek (London England) Trio - 1796
Work	Movement	Tempo	Meter	Key
Hob. 15:30 – Lan. 42	I	Allegro moderato	C – 4/4	Eb
	II	Andante con moto	3/8	C
	III	Presto	3/4	Eb

So we have seen Breitkopf's acquisition of this work, but it also ended up in London simultaneously. We saw Sophia Corri many times on the stage in London. She was a singer and harpist, and eventually married our old friend Jan Dussek. Just like seemingly everyone else, they started up a music publishing house, and in fact were the publishers of all of Dr. Haydn's Original Canzonettas and the Opus 71/74 quartets. The friendship clearly continued after Haydn headed home, since they published this trio early times. And Breitkopf paid for his delay (he didn't publish until 1798) since meantime, Haydn also sold it to Artaria who had it on the shop shelves in Vienna by 1797.

Writers are generally agreed that this trio is very technically complex, with intricate tonal relationships like a modulation to the key of Cb from Bb in the first movement and an f minor | c minor | Eb Major progression to get to the reprise. There is even a place in the finale, which has turned by this point to eb minor (6 flats!!) where, as Landon tells us "things had gotten so bizarre, tonally, that Haydn cancels all the accidentals in the key signature" and  modulates again to Cb, which is actually now 'spelled' the same as B (what is called 'enharmonic'), and by the time the strings come back, all is perfectly 'normal' again! To appreciate Haydn's genius all the more, you must realize that he takes these vast bits of 'learnedness' as it was called, and arranges them in such a way that it doesn't require a virtuoso to realize either the pianoforte or violin parts. Very good players? Yes. Extraordinary? No. And this is just what his audience was. And this is what will differentiate it from the amazing trios yet to leave the workshop, destined for London.

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The Bartolozzi Trios
Work	Movement	Tempo	Meter	Key
Hob. 15:27 – Lan. 43	I	Allegro	C – 4/4	C
	II	Andante	6/8	A
	III	Finale: Presto	2/4	C
Hob. 15:28 – Lan. 44	I	Allegro moderato	C – 4/4	E
	II	Allegretto	3/4	e
	III	Finale: Allegro	3/4	E
Hob. 15:29 – Lan. 45	I	Poco allegretto	2/4	Eb
	II	Andantino ed innocentemente	6/8	B
	III	Finale: Allemande ("in the German Style"): Presto assai	3/4	Eb

Not all women had such short-term goals as some of Austen's characters though. We have already spoken of Therese Jansen Bartolozzi, most particularly to point out how exceptional she was, being a woman in a man's world. Even though she didn't call herself a professional, which would have been unbecoming to her gender and station, nor did she play in large public concerts, she was in all respects a professional keyboardist. One didn't become enshrined as a Top 3 student of a teacher like Clementi by being a dilettante! During Haydn's time in London, especially the last two years, he had developed a strong friendship with Therese, based, at least in part, upon her extraordinary talent. As we saw, he wrote the solo sonatas Hob. 16:50 and 16:52 for her exclusive use, and also the tremendous joke of the Jacob's Dream accompanied sonata. Also, he was a primary witness at her wedding to another friend of his, second generation engraver Gaetano Bartolozzi.

Even Robbins Landon doesn't have anything in the way of documentary evidence concerning the composition of the Bartolozzi Trios. Feder, in the New Grove Haydn, has them as completed (with a question mark) by the time Haydn left London in August 1795, but I think he is just surmising an earliest possible date. They first show up in an August 1796 agreement between Haydn and an English music seller named Frederick Augustus Hyde. By all appearances, Hyde wasn't a publisher, but more like a broker. His 'indenture' with Haydn, witnessed by Rebecca Schroeter no less, guaranteed Haydn £75 for "Three sonatas for the Piano Forte or Harpsichord with an accompaniment for a Violin and Violoncello". This indenture went on to establish a sort of price table, which was what Haydn would be paid if he wrote various sorts of works over the next five years. It did lay out a desire for fifty-five various compositions totaling £911. In the event, it was Longman & Broderip who published the works in April 1797 as Opus 75 with Haydn's dedication to Therese Bartolozzi. When we discussed the London Piano School, I mentioned how many instrument makers and music publishers were in fact the same companies, and in this case, the interesting point is Haydn had a L & B pianoforte (very likely a wise gift from the maker) shipped home to Vienna when he left London, which replaced his once-loved Schantz, and so these works published by L & B were also no doubt composed on one of their own instruments. Small world!

It is very clear that Haydn had his dedicatee in mind when he wrote these works. The string parts require a very good player, but at the time there were many amateurs who could handle them. However, unlike nearly all accompanied sonatas written in the late 18^th century, the keyboard parts of these were unquestionably for professionals. They are not parlor music!

There is an amazingly large body of literature that focuses on these three trios, especially in relation to what has been written on the ones which preceded them. Some of the things which are shared by all the writers, from the brilliant and prescient Donald Tovey in the 1920's right up to liner notes of releases from within the last decade, are tributes to the technical difficulties of the keyboard part (Jean-Yves Bras in the liner notes to Cohen-Höbarth-Coin Trio talks about: "…the formidable technical difficulty of the piano part of these trios.") to the outstanding ways in which Haydn was being himself, totally unrestrained. Bras again;

The finale, Presto, is a symphonic rondo, possibly the most humorous piece that Haydn wrote. Everything about the movement is unexpected,: the opening theme is an enchanting joke, with the harmony changing to make accents on the off-beats, an angular melody that appears at times in the wrong register, and a scherzando rhythm that allows the melody to start when one is least ready for it.

Robbins Landon tells us in the notes to L'Archibudelli/Levin Trio;

"…in #44's slow movement, we are given a nightmarish piece in e minor which starts like a Baroque ritornello for the three instruments, out of which the piano breaks away in a long passage for two bare parts with yawning gaps between top and bottom. There is something distinctly spooky about all of this… the end of this eerie movement, with its wildly eccentric cadenza, has to be heard to be believed"

Naturally, this just scratches the surface of these amazing pieces. There is not a weak movement in the set compared to his own or others, and with Haydn's usual fertility of ideas, there isn't even a place within the set to compare to; no 'best opening', no 'best finale'.

Since I am so patently a huge fan of all the keyboard trios, it is no stretch at all for me to say this; when Haydn returned to the form in the 1780's and began to use it as his 'workshop' for harmonies and rhythmic ideas, he was always heading to where these trios actually reach, which is, they point directly to the music of the 19^th century. They stretch harmonic possibilities to their fullest potential, nearly to where subsequent composers were going to have a great deal of difficulty coming up with something which Haydn hadn't done already. Beethoven and Schubert, for example, are very well known for their use of remote keys and unusual enharmonic key changes. The B major/Eb major key relationship in the Emperor Concerto? Haydn did it already, in the finale "in the German Style" of #45. Even the eerie 'Ghost Trio' of Beethoven? Did that, in the inner movement of #44. This is no implication that others were copying him, it is merely pointing out that no composer, no matter how great, composed in a vacuum. Haydn's greatest lesson for the next generation was think for yourself, don't be bound by convention.

I was very sad when, in 1794, we said so long to the keyboard sonata, in fact with a stupendous work which Haydn completed for this same lady. And then, in 1795, we saw the final symphony flow from quill to page, the unmatched N^o. 104, 'London'. 1796 bids farewell to yet another genre, a great personal favorite of mine, and maybe of yours. The keyboard trios, all forty-five of them, began at such an early time in Haydn's career there was no real remark of them. But earlier, the New Grove article on "Accompanied Keyboard Sonatas" told us:

Vienna was isolated from most of these developments – and these foreign publications – until the 1770s. Early Viennese chamber music with keyboard was an indigenous tradition dependent on Austrian models. In the 1750s and 60s the genre was cultivated by the leading keyboard players, Wagenseil, Hofmann, Steffan, Vanhal and especially Haydn, whose early keyboard trios are the expression and summit of this style.

It wasn't long before Haydn's genius conquered the genre. Then, in every musical era over this forty year period, there are trios by Haydn, all of them as good as there was at the time. But the final twelve years of Haydn's life were focused in a different direction, as we will soon see. And it is hard to complain about any of that!

Thanks for reading!