Piano Trio No. 44

Joseph Haydn's Piano Trio No. 44 in E major, Hob. XV/28, was published in 1797 but may have been written a few years earlier while Haydn was still in England on the second of his highly successful London visits. It is the second of a set of three piano trios dedicated to the eminent pianist Therese Jansen Bartolozzi, and (like the others in the set) is noted for its especially wide expressive range as well as its virtuosity.

The trio is in three movements:
The first movement opens with an ascending theme presented, untypically, by the violin and cello in pizzicato; the effect is reminiscent of a harp. The piano answers with an ornamented legato version of the same theme, before all three instruments burst into a lively bridge section leading toward the dominant. The opening theme is reproduced in the development section in a rich, full-bodied version in A♭ major.