Description
In the Classical period and well into the 19th century, piano trios were almost ubiquitous, serving as fashionable accessories. Toward the end of his life, Haydn could look back proudly at the 39 piano trios he had left to posterity.
One interesting feature of Haydn's piano trio collection Hob. XV:15-17 is that they were scored for flute instead of violin, setting them apart from his other trios. These works were commissioned by the London publisher John Bland, who had visited Haydn in 1789. Inspired, Haydn promptly composed three extraordinarily charming and elegant pieces, full of imaginative touches, which were published in the summer of 1790. The use of the flute was likely due to the instrument's popularity among the English middle classes and aristocracy, though a violin performance is also perfectly feasible and even explicitly suggested in the F-major Trio Hob. XV:17.
