These works, originally scored for two flutes and cello, are indicative of amateur music making of the day. Haydn first came to London in 1791, leaving in 1792. He returned in 1794, and again stayed but two years before his return to Vienna. These trios date from that second visit. My edition is adjusted in order that it might be played by two oboes, with bassoon and harpsichord functioning as the continuo. Although there are altogether four London Trios, numbers four and two seem to form a single work.

Trio No. 1 is laid out in three movements. The first is a sonata form: the harmonic relationship of the third is found in its short development. The slow movement is a ravishing siciliano, and the finale, a spirited rondeau. The central couplet of the latter also features the relationship of the third.

Trio Nos. 4 and 2 form an entity. No. 4 is set in sonata form, while No. 2 is an Andante with five variations based upon the English song ‘The Lady’s Looking Glass’. Haydn expands the little 14 bar melody of three phrases (5+5+4) into a more substantial rounded binary form during each of the last two variations. The final variation is marked Allegro, and this quicker tempo helps bring the trio to a satisfying close
.
Trio No. 3 is set up like Trio No. 1, in three movements. The high range of the original flute parts made it imperative for me to transpose sections of the individual oboe parts down an octave. As in Trio No. 1, the initial movement is a sonata form, and the slow movement a binary-form siciliano. The finale, though, is laid out as a binary-form rather than as a rondeau.