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Haydn, so far as we can make out, never essayed the baryton
again, but he wrote a surprising amount of music for it,
considering its complicated mechanism and the weakness of its
tone. In the catalogue of his works there are no fewer than 175
compositions for the instrument--namely, six duets for two
barytons, twelve sonatas for baryton and violoncello, twelve
divertimenti for two barytons and bass, and 125 divertimenti for
baryton, viola and violoncello; seventeen so-called "cassations";
and three concertos for baryton, with accompaniment of two
violins and bass. There is no need to say anything about these
compositions, inasmuch as they have gone to oblivion with the
instrument which called them into being. At the best they can
never have been of much artistic importance.
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