Piano trio op.11 (Beethoven)

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Beethoven portrait by Carl Traugott Riedel from 1801.

The Trio op. 11 in B flat major (“Gassenhauer Trio”) by Ludwig van Beethoven is a trio for clarinet , violoncello and piano that can alternatively be played in the classical piano trio with violin instead of clarinet.

It got its nickname "Gassenhauer-Trio" because of its third movement, which uses a theme from the comic opera L'amor marinaro (German " The Corsair from Love " or "Love Among the Seafarers") by Joseph Weigl as variations .

Emergence

The work, dedicated to Countess Maria Wilhelmine von Thun, one of Beethoven's benefactors, was written in 1797. A possible reason for the composition was a commission from clarinetist Josef Bähr . For this reason musicologist Basil Smallman saw the Trio op. 11 as an occasional work.

To secure the popularity of the trio, Beethoven adapted the clarinet part for the violin shortly after its creation.

To the music

The piano trio is based on Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's three-movement trio for piano, clarinet and viola in E flat major KV 498 , the “ Kegelstatt Trio ”, as a model.

In contrast to the more demanding three trios of op. 1 , the lighter trio op. 11 is designed for a cheerful tone. Nevertheless, the trio contains some harmonic surprises in that Beethoven, for example, sharply contrasts one-bar periods in A minor and F major.

First movement: Allegro con brio

The powerful main theme is characterized by piano shades. As the movement progresses, the exposition ends on the dominant F major and is unexpectedly contrasted with a side movement in D major.

Second movement: Adagio

In the second movement, which is in E flat major and is conceived as a three-part song form with coda , a cantaround main theme sounds in eight bars in the cello. After repeating the first movement by the clarinet (also with piano accompaniment), all three instruments sound together in the subsequent movement.

Third movement: Tema: Pria ch'io l'impegno. Allegretto - Var. I-IX

The third movement is a set of variations and forms the basis for naming the trio as the “Gassenhauer Trio”. Beethoven varies a motif from the comic opera L'amor marinaro (German “ The Corsair from Love ” or “Love among the Seafarers”) by Joseph Weigl as variations . It's about the melody of the trio “Pria ch'io l'impegno” (German “Before I go to work”). This opera has been played at the Vienna Court Theater since its premiere on October 15, 1797 , and the melody in particular was practically a hit in its time . Other works like to make use of it, too. a. those by Joseph von Eybler , Johann Nepomuk Hummel , Joseph Wölfl and Nicolò Paganini .

The set consists of nine variations. For example, while the first variation is performed by the piano alone, in the second variation the clarinet and cello lead a dialogue without the piano being involved. The fifth variation consists of chord blocks in the style of a funeral march; the seventh variation is a march in B flat minor. After a final, accelerating development towards 6/8 time, the coda returns to the basic meter. Of the three instruments involved, the piano has the dominant role.

According to Beethoven's student Carl Czerny , Beethoven is said to have considered composing a new finale for the trio in order to bring out the set of variations as an independent composition. Beethoven biographer Alexander Wheelock Thayer, on the other hand, reports on the doubtful statement by the Artaria publishing house that Beethoven only found out about the origin of the theme on which the movement was based and expressed dissatisfaction with it.

effect

The trio was released in 1798. In this context, it was also dedicated to Countess Maria Wilhelmine von Thun (born June 13, 1744 in Vienna; † May 18, 1800 there).

The critics particularly noticed the light tone of the trio. For example, the Allgemeine Musikische Zeitung wrote in 1799:

“This trio, which is not easy in places, but more fluid than some of the other things by the author, makes a very good ensemble on the fortepiano with the piano accompaniment. With his unusual harmonic knowledge and love for more serious sentences, he would give us much good that would leave our bland ley affairs of often famous men far behind if he always wanted to write more naturally than wanted. "

- General musical newspaper : 1799

literature

supporting documents

  • Beethoven - The Piano Trios. Total recording. Decca, 2001.
  • Harenberg cultural guide chamber music. Brockhaus, Mannheim 2008, ISBN 978-3-411-07093-0 .
  • Trio in B flat major for piano, clarinet and violoncello op.11 , in: Beethoven-Handbuch. Bärenreiter, Kassel 2009, ISBN 978-3-476-02153-3 . Pp. 520-522.
  • Lewis Lockwood : Beethoven: His Music - His Life. Metzler, Stuttgart / Weimar 2009, ISBN 978-3-476-02231-8 . P. 80f.

further reading

  • Robert Forster: Trio for piano, clarinet / violin and cello op.11 . In: Carl Dahlhaus , Albrecht Riethmüller and Alexander L. Ringer (eds.): Beethoven - interpretations of his works. , 1994, Vol. 1, pp. 79-83

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Basil Smallman: The Piano trio. Its History, Technique, and Repertory. Oxford 1992, p. 52.
  2. ^ Dörte Schmidt: Chamber music with wind instruments and the conversion of the genre system , in: Sven Hiemke (Ed.): Beethoven-Handbuch. Bärenreiter, Kassel 2009, p. 522.
  3. ↑ Alexander Wheelock Thayer: Ludwig van Beethoven's life . Edited from the original manuscript in German by Hermann Deiters. Revision of the new edition effected by H. Deiters (1901) by Hugo Riemann , 5 volumes, Leipzig 1907–1917, volume 2, p. 100