Piano Trio No. 41 (Haydn)
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Joseph Haydn's Piano Trio No. 41 in E-flat minor, Hob. XV/31, was written in 1795/1796. It has the nickname "Jacob's Dream" because of its second movement.
Movements
First movement: Andante cantabile
The first movement of the piano trio has the form of a rondo: A–B–A–C–A–Coda. The rondo scheme can be combined with the sonata form. The couplet (E-flat minor) would be the first theme, the first refrain (E-flat major) is the second theme, and C (B major) is the development.
Second movement: Allegro (ben moderato)
This movement has the scheme A–B–A–Coda. Unusual for Haydn's piano trios, the violin is here the important instrument rather than the piano. The trio is often nicknamed "Jacob's Dream" due to the inscription, later removed, Haydn made on the manuscript [1] of the second movement, which read: Jacob's Dream! by Dr. Haydn, in reference to the biblical story of Jacob's Ladder which ascended to heaven, as the movement features difficult passages in the upper register of the violin, which Haydn had written as a practical joke directed at a German violinist who had particular difficulties playing high notes. Haydn sent the movement to the pianist Therese Jansen who played it with the violinist, to comic effect.[2]
See also
References
- ^ Joseph Haydn, Piano Trio No. 41 in E-flat minor, Hob. XV:31 Holograph manuscript, 1795
- ^ Albert Christoph Dies, Biographical Accounts of Joseph Haydn, Vienna, 1810
- Brauner, Jürgen: Studien zu den Klaviertios von Joseph Haydn. Würzburg. 1995. (pp 302–306, pp. 348–357)
External links
- Piano Trio No. 41 on YouTube
- Piano Trio No. 41 on YouTube, Beaux Arts Trio: Menahem Pressler (piano), Isidore Cohen (violin), Bernard Greenhouse (violoncello)
