Flute and Friends

Trio for Flute, Cello and Piano in G major, Hob XV:15

by Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)

• Allegro
• Andante
• Allegro moderato

In 1790 after many years of Kapellmeister services, Haydn found himself a free agent. London publisher John Bland thus courted him, and happened upon him one day shaving, grumbling about the dullness of his razor saying, “I would give my best quartet for a good English razor!” Bland rushed off and procured for him a new English razor for which Bland was indeed rewarded a new quartet. When Bland sent him another razor, Haydn sent him three elegant trios for flute, cello and piano. The subsequent publication of these chamber works was met with enthusiasm by the English public, who greatly anticipated Haydn’s famous first visit to London later that same year.

The Trio for Flute, Cello and Piano in G major is comprised of three movements. The Allegro is engaging and conversational amongst the players; its ideas are boldly developed creating music of greater heft than initially glimpsed. The Andante is in an ABA structure with a gracious A section in C major contrasting a most expressive B section in C minor. The work concludes with the playful and tuneful Allegro moderato that fully displays Haydn’s inventiveness and wit.

Piano Trio in C minor, Op. 1, No.3

by Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)

• Allegro con brio
• Andante cantabile con variazioni
• Minuet: Quasi Allegro
• Finale: Prestissimo

By 1795, Beethoven had already composed numerous works, but he selected his first three piano trios to be his Opus 1 as a way of introducing to the world his work and virtuosic pianism. At the time of their publication, Beethoven premiered the trios with his teacher Joseph Haydn in attendance. Haydn was full of praise for the first two trios, but suggested the third be held back from publication because he thought it too dramatic and complex for public taste. He was mistaken – Beethoven’s Piano Trio in C minor, Op.1, No.3 ultimately became the most successful of them all. Its great breadth surpassed any chamber music written before.

The Allegro con brio opens with a somewhat mysterious seven-note motive that weaves throughout the movement in music that is impassioned and straining against its confines. Then, like a balm, the Andante offers a serene hymn-like theme in E flat major that transforms through five variations, with the cello’s soulful fourth variation in the darker key of E flat minor. The Minuet with its irregular phrase lengths, explosive accents and pauses is a dance with an awkward gait. The Finale gives us intense lyricism embedded in a restless agitated texture that eventually dissipates into the distance at the last.

Trio in E minor for Flute, Cello and Piano, Op.45

by Louise Farrenc (1804-1875)

• Allegro deciso – più moderato ed espressivo
• Andante
• Scherzo – Vivace
• Finale – Presto

Louise Farrenc was many things during her illustrious career: renowned pianist, teacher, editor, researcher and composer. As a child prodigy, she had the good fortune to grow up in Paris in a supportive bohemian circle of artistic family and friends, including a long familial line of famous sculptors. Her husband, flautist Aristide Farrenc, also supported her composing career and published many of her works in their company Éditions Farrenc. She composed prolifically in a classical-romantic style and in most genres. Notably, Farrenc was awarded the Chartier Prize in 1861 and 1869 by the Académie des Beaux-Arts for chamber music, and she was the first and only woman of the nineteenth century to be appointed piano professor of the Paris Conservatory!

She wrote the Piano Trio, Op.45 in 1861-2. The short, determined introduction leads into a dramatic first movement with two lyrical themes. In the Andante, the flute offers a sweet song of folk-like simplicity contrasted with a more turbulent middle section. The Scherzo is like a breezy summer day, impish and wild, that subsides into tenderness in the middle section. The Presto is energetic, continually moving to its final destination.