These chamber pieces by Haydn, likely composed around 1770, have received remarkably few serious recordings. There are various reasons for this, including a probably mistaken belief that they were pedagogical works, and (probably most important) uncertainty as to what instruments were intended. The only autograph is a part for violin alone for two of the sonatas, probably intended for a performance. The six sonatas were popular, and publishers brought them out in versions for two violins or violin and bass, as well as the violin and viola configuration heard here. At any rate, this version by German historical-performance specialists
Anton Steck and Christian Goosses is most welcome, for these sonatas had more to do with Haydn's great leaps forward in the roughly contemporaneous Op. 9 and Op 17 sets of string quartets than did most of the other assorted duos and trios from the first part of Haydn's career. The movement structure belongs more to the world of occasional music, with all six sonatas ending lightly with varied minuets. The opening pair of movements, however, (all six sonatas are in three movements), are quite ambitious, with expressive, mostly minor-key slow movements balanced against vigorous counterpoint in the opening movements. Four of the opening movements contain the word "moderato" in their tempo indications, a feature also present in Haydn's quartets of the period, and the composer's characteristic wit is present everywhere in the form of unorthodox phrase lengths and unexpected harmonic turns. The performances here are a bit on the imposing side, a tendency emphasized by rather chilly studio sound, but these duos would more than hold the interest of any concertgoer attending a bill including Mozart's sonatas for violin and viola, and this recording should find a wide market.