Trio Gaspard continues its acclaimed series of Haydn Piano Trios with this collection of later works, designed to be played as a stand-alone programme. The Trio includes the world premiere of a piece commissioned to complement Haydn’s works – Trance, by Sally Beamish.

The disc opens with Trio No. 26 in C minor, which was the last of three trios Haydn composed at pace to pacify his publisher. Both Trio No. 34 in B flat major and Trio No. 36 in E flat major were written during Haydn’s time in London; the latter, a powerful and complex work, was dedicated to princess Maria Hermenegild Esterhazy, wife of Nicolas II. Trio No. 31 in G major was initially published as a sonata for violin & piano – unique in Haydn’s output. Editions by other publishers, however, included a cello part, and it is reasonable to conclude that Haydn would have intended the work as a trio.

Sally Beamish says: The melancholic nature of Haydn’s [F sharp minor] trio affected my approach, combining with memories of my mother and her gradual disappearance into dementia. The title, Trance, indicates a meditative state, but also a ‘passageway’, or departure: the confusing journey of my relationship with my mother as her personality shifted, changed, and faded.