Haydn: Piano Trios, Volume 4

Trio Gaspard continues its acclaimed series of Haydn Piano Trios with this collection of later works,
designed to be played (and enjoyed) as a stand-alone programme. As in the case of the previous volumes,
the Trio includes the world première recording of a piece commissioned to complement Haydn’s works
– in this instance Trance, by Sally Beamish. The disc opens with Trio No. 26 in C minor, from 1789,
which was the last of three trios Haydn composed at pace to pacify his publisher, who had paid an advance
of 25 Ducats for the set, and also lent the composer 31 Ducats for the purchase of a new piano.
Both Trio No. 34 in B flat major and Trio No. 36 in E flat major were written during Haydn’s time in London,
in the 1790s; the latter, a powerful and complex work, was dedicated to princess Maria Hermenegild Esterházy,
wife of the new prince, Nicolas II. Trio No. 31 in G major was initially published as a sonata for violin and piano
- unique in Haydn’s output. Editions by other publishers, however, included a cello part, and it is reasonable to
conclude that Haydn would have intended the work as a trio. Sally Beamish says of her trio:
'The melancholic nature of Haydn’s [F sharp minor] trio affected my approach, combining with memories of my mother
and her gradual disappearance into dementia. The title, Trance, indicates a meditative state, but also a ‘passageway’,
or departure: the confusing journey of my relationship with my mother as her personality shifted, changed, and faded.’