Day 128: One Track to Rule Them All

HaydnCD128I listened to Haydn CD 128 three times today, not paying attention to which trios were playing.

I just let the music play as I went about my business.

Without fail, my mind took note of one particular track each time, and I wrote its number down on a piece of paper, chuckling aloud the third time I wrote the number “8” on the notepad beside me.

Track Eight is Movement II (“Menuet: Allegretto”) of Trio No. 121 in A.

Why did my mind flag that particular track each time?

I don’t know. It just did.

And that’s really the point about music – or any type of art, for that matter. There’s no objective reason why art resonates with someone. Its beauty is in the eye or ear of the beholder.

The rest of today’s trios were okay. Two other tracks – Movement III (“Finale: Presto”) of Trio No. 125 in G and Movement III (“Finale: Presto”) of Trio No. 126 in C – were runners up in the mind-flag department. They also stood out. Just not as consistently as Track Eight did.

Track Eight ruled them all.

EsterhazyEnsembleHere 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. 118 in D

Haydn Baryton Trio No. 120 in D

Haydn Baryton Trio No. 121 in A


Haydn Baryton Trio No. 122 in A

Haydn Baryton Trio No. 123 in G

Haydn Baryton Trio No. 124 in G

Haydn Baryton Trio No. 126 in C

I posted the video clip to the trio my mind flagged most often. If you’d like to know what the rest of the trios sound like, search YouTube. I guarantee someone has posted them.

Incidentally, it must have been cool to record these pieces in the very place in which they may have been composed, and likely first performed: Esterhazy Castle. Can you imagine that?

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