Piano Trio No. 40 (Haydn)

XV:26, was completed during the final few weeks of Haydn's second trip to London, and one of a set of three (H. XV:24–26) dedicated to Rebecca Schroeter.

[1] With its unusual key, this piano trio has been described by Robert Philip as "subtle and shifting in its moods".

The first movement begins quietly in its melancholy minor key, recalling Haydn's Sturm und Drang period of the 1770s, but it soon shifts to the major.

[4] Robert Philip comments that the "delicately florid and rather improvisational style" with its "sudden shifts of key and atmosphere" are more suited to the intimate setting of a trio, suggesting that this version may have come first.

[3] The work was published in October 1795 by the English firm of Longman and Broderip as part of a set of three with the opus number (seldom used today) 73.