Piano trio op.1.2 (Beethoven)

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The piano trio op.1.2 in G major is the second of three piano trios that Ludwig van Beethoven published in 1795 under opus number 1. The other two are the Piano Trio op.1.1 in E flat major and the Piano Trio op.1.3 in C minor.

Emergence

Before composing the Piano Trios op. 1, Beethoven had approached the genre of the piano trio by composing piano quartets - with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart as a model. Most of the Piano Trios op. 1 were written in 1793 and 1794. They are dedicated to Beethoven's patron and patron Karl Lichnowsky , who made it possible for the trios to be performed privately and who financed the first edition published by Artaria in 1795 . As part of the publication, the piano trios were given opus number 1, whereby Beethoven may have wanted to emphasize that he viewed the piano trios as his first full-fledged compositions; however, this numbering could also go back to Prince Lichnowsky.

To the music

First movement: Adagio - Allegro vivace

The piano trio op.1.2 is the only piano trio in the group of works of op.1 whose first movement is preceded by a slow introduction. The first movement of the G major trio is introduced by a 27-bar Adagio, which already anticipates the theme of the following Allegro. The main theme is presented by the violin - in contrast to the Allegro combined with a triad - and indicated on the piano. In addition, the introduction features an ascending, dotted break of three tones in the style of a French overture , which is reminiscent of the beginning of Beethoven's Cello Sonata No. 2 .

In the further course of the movement the movement finds its way comparatively slowly to the basic key of G major. On the other hand, the violin and cello parts are interwoven in terms of motif and contrapuntal, in that a four-tone group given by the violin is picked up by the cello. This four-tone motif, which Alexander Ringer called “Cantus firmus” , can already be found in the Trio op. 1,1 at the beginning of the scherzo.

Second movement: Largo con espressione

The expressive Largo of the G major trio is characterized - for the first time in Beethoven's chamber music oeuvre - by the equal role played by the violin and cello compared to the piano, after the pioneering role was still intended for the piano in Joseph Haydn's chamber music works. Largo, held in the median key of E major and in 6/8 time, is conceived as a three-part song.

During his training with Johann Georg Albrechtsberger , Beethoven sketched the beginning of this movement as part of counterpoint exercises.

The performance of a theme made up of thirds by the piano, its repetition in the strings and the juxtaposition of a second theme in the middle section that ascends in two small seconds form the basis for a motivic development.

Third movement: Allegro

The short third movement contains a trio in B minor.

Fourth movement: Presto

The fourth movement, which is not geared towards serious development, but rather cheerful, prompted musicologist Paul Bekker to refer to it as a rondo , which, according to Ares Wolf, is an - albeit not unjustified - error. The serenity of the movement is not impaired by the fact that the finale consistently follows the specifications of the sonata form . Instead, Alexander Ringer even compared his virtuosity with a "summer night haunt" .

effect

The concerns expressed by Beethoven's then Viennese teacher Joseph Haydn that the trios might overwhelm the Viennese audience turned out to be unfounded. With the sales of the trios, Beethoven earned over 700 guilders .

The Allgemeine Musikische Zeitung saw in the trios both "the joyful youth of the master" and his "later, deep seriousness and tender intimacy" and noted "the role models of Mozart's piano quartets" , nevertheless also found "B.'s peculiarity and independence unmistakable" .

literature

supporting documents

further reading

  • Wolfgang Osthoff : The slow introductions to Beethoven's piano trios (op.1 no.2, op.121a, op.70 no.2) . In: Rudolf Bockholdt and Petra Weber-Bockholdt (eds.): Beethoven's piano trios. Symposium Munich 1990. Munich 1992. pp. 119–129.
  • Alexander L. Ringer: 3 piano trios in E flat major, G major and C minor op.1 (together with the string quintet in C minor op.104) . In: Carl Dahlhaus , Albrecht Riethmüller and Alexander L. Ringer (eds.): Beethoven - interpretations of his works. , 1994, Vol. 1, pp. 1-20.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Konrad Küster : Beethoven. Stuttgart 1994.
  2. ↑ Alexander L. Ringer: 3 piano trios in E flat major, G major and C minor op.1 (together with the string quintet in C minor op.104) . In: Carl Dahlhaus , Albrecht Riethmüller and Alexander L. Ringer (eds.): Beethoven - interpretations of his works. , 1994, Volume 1, p. 9.
  3. ^ Martin Gustav Nottebohm : Beethoven's Studies , Volume 1: Beethoven's lessons with J. Haydn, Albrechtsberger and Salieri. Leipzig 1873, p. 202.
  4. ↑ Sven Hiemke (Ed.): Beethoven - Handbuch , Bärenreiter-Verlag Karl Vötterle GmbH & Co. KG, Kassel, 2009, p. 486
  5. ↑ Alexander L. Ringer: 3 piano trios in E flat major, G major and C minor op.1 (together with the string quintet in C minor op.104) . In: Interpretations 1994. Volume 1, p. 14.
  6. ^ Brilliant Classics: Text / Libretti. In: Beethoven: Complete Works. 2008, p. 13.