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Piano Trios, Op. 1 (Beethoven)

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Piano Trios
by Ludwig van Beethoven
The earliest known portrait of Beethoven; 1801 engraving by Johann Joseph Neidl after a now-lost portrait by Gandolph Ernst Stainhauser von Treuberg, ca. 1800
Key
Opus1/1–3
DedicationPrince Lichnowsky
Performed1795 (1795): Vienna

Ludwig van Beethoven's Opus 1 is a set of three piano trios (written for piano, violin, and cello), first performed in 1795 in the house of Prince Lichnowsky, to whom they are dedicated.[1] The trios were published in 1795.

Despite the Op. 1 designation, these trios were not Beethoven's first published compositions;[2] this distinction belongs rather to his Dressler Variations for keyboard (WoO 63). Clearly he recognized the Op. 1 compositions as the earliest ones he had produced that were substantial enough (and marketable enough) to fill out a first major publication to introduce his style of writing to the musical public.

No. 1 in E-flat major

[edit]
  1. Allegro (E-flat major), 4
    4
  2. Adagio cantabile (A-flat major), 3
    4
  3. Scherzo. Allegro assai (E-flat major, with trio in A-flat major), 3
    4
  4. Finale. Presto (E-flat major), 2
    4

The first movement opens with an ascending arpeggiated figure (a so-called Mannheim Rocket, like that opening the first movement of the composer's own Piano Sonata no 1, Opus 2 no 1),[3]

No. 2 in G major

[edit]
  1. Adagio, 3
    4     – Allegro vivace, 2
    4     (G major)
  2. Largo con espressione (E major), 6
    8
  3. Scherzo. Allegro (G major, with a trio in B minor), 3
    4
  4. Finale. Presto (G major), 2
    4

No. 3 in C minor

[edit]
  1. Allegro con brio (C minor), 3
    4
  2. Andante cantabile con Variazioni (E-flat major), 2
    4
  3. Minuetto. Quasi allegro (C minor, with a trio in C major), 3
    4
  4. Finale. Prestissimo (C minor, concluding in C major), 2
    2

Unlike the other piano trios in this opus, the third trio does not have a scherzo as its third movement but a minuet instead.

This third piano trio was later reworked by Beethoven into the C minor string quintet, Op. 104.[4]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Beethoven's Trios for string instruments, wind instruments and for mixed ones"[usurped], All About Beethoven. Retrieved 2011-12-10.
  2. ^ "Beethoven's first childhood composition is predictably incredible for a 12-year-old". Classic FM (UK). Retrieved 13 May 2021.
  3. ^ Cummings, Robert. "Piano Sonata No. 1 in F minor, Op. 2/1 (1793–1795)" in All Music Guide to Classical Music: The Definitive Guide to Classical Music, p. 106 (Chris Woodstra, Gerald Brennan, Allen Schrott eds., Hal Leonard Corporation, 2005).
  4. ^ String Quintet in C minor, Op. 104. Hyperion Records. Retrieved 2011-12-10.
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