Baryton trios (Haydn)

Joseph Haydn wrote 123 trios for the combination of baryton, viola, and cello. In addition, there are three trios (H. XI:89-91) for baryton, cello, and violin; considered part of the same series. As Sisman notes, they are "the most intensively cultivated genre of Haydn's earlier career."

The baryton is a bowed string instrument of the viol family played in Europe during the 17th and 18th centuries. It has six or seven strings of gut, arranged over a fretted fingerboard, plus a lower set of wire strings. When the gut strings are bowed, the wire strings vibrate sympathetically, enriching the tone. The wire strings may also be plucked by the performer's left thumb, creating a contrasting tonal quality. For full information, see baryton.

Haydn began composing baryton trios in 1765. At the time he had been working for the princes of the Esterházy family since 1761, and since 1762 for the newly reigning Prince Nikolaus. Nikolaus had previously played the viola da gamba (an instrument similar to the baryton, but without the sympathetic strings), but in 1765 he purchased a baryton. In the same year, Haydn received an official reprimand from the prince for neglecting his duties; for details of this episode see Gregor Werner. An addendum to the reprimand specified that Haydn should also spend more time composing works for the Prince's new instrument:

Haydn responded vigorously to this command, and his efforts soon met with the Prince's approval. On 4 January 1766, Esterházy wrote to his administrator:

These gratuities were to continue.

Over the next ten years Haydn wrote "nearly 200" compositions for various ensembles with baryton. Of these, the predominant genre was the baryton trio. Whenever Haydn had completed 24 trios, he had the set "richly bound in leather and gold" (Sisman). The resulting volumes were dated 1766, 1767, 1768, 1771, and 1778; the last was bound up after the prince had abandoned the instrument in favor of a new hobby also involving Haydn, namely the mounting of opera productions in his palace. According to barytonist John Hsu, the last trios actually date from 1775.

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