To say that Baryton Trio No. No 96 in B Minor starts this CD off slowly is a tremendous understatement.

The lugubrious low tones of the baryton – combined with an unusually slow tempo – make Movement I (“Largo”) one of the most uninspiring first movements I’ve yet heard.

Movement II (“Allegro”) and Movement III (“Menuet”) don’t sweeten the deal any.

No. 96 isn’t one of my faves.

No. 97 in D, despite having seven(!) movements is only better because it has seven movements. It’s odd. And, therefore, intriguing. I was fascinated by this trio.

According to a CD description on the AllMusic web site, No. 97 offers an “…odd but confident seven-movement structure (including a fugue).”

Movement VII (“Finale: Fuga presto”) was lively and fun. Plus, given the strangeness of No. 97, I’m going to have to give this trio a FAVORITE! rating. I’ll want to return to No. 97 again to study it. It certainly stands out as an odd one among all the other trios.

The rest of the trios on this disc seemed pretty much standard fare.

Here are the members of the Esterhazy Ensemble playing today’s Baryton Trios:

Michael Brussing baryton
Andras Bolyki viola
Maria Andrasfalvy-Brussing cello

Below is what I listened to today. NOTE: I don’t know if people didn’t keep track of such things back then, or if these are just too old. But the date of composition on these seems to be nebulous, anywhere from 1766 to 1776, give or take. Haydn was in his early thirties for most of these. Give or take.

Haydn Baryton Trio No. 96 in B Minor

Haydn Baryton Trio No. 97 in D

Haydn Baryton Trio No. 98 in D

Haydn Baryton Trio No. 100 in F

Haydn Baryton Trio No. 101 in C

Haydn Baryton Trio No. 102 in G

Haydn Baryton Trio No. 103 in A

I’m not going to look these up on YouTube. You can if you want to. They’re probably there.