Editing Piano Trios, Op. 1 (Beethoven)

{{Short description|1795 piano trios by Ludwig van Beethoven}}
{{use dmy dates|date=August 2023}}
{{Infobox musical composition
| name           = Piano Trios
| composer       = [[Ludwig van Beethoven]]
| image          = File:Ludwig van Beethoven, aged twenty-six (1796).jpg
| caption        = 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            = {{hlist| [[E-flat major]] | [[G major]] | [[C minor]] }}
| opus           = 1/1–3
| dedication     = [[Karl Alois, Prince Lichnowsky|Prince Lichnowsky]]
| performed      = {{Timeline-event|date={{Start date|1795}}|location=Vienna}}
| published      = 
| publisher      = 
| scoring        = 
}}
[[Ludwig van Beethoven]]'s [[Opus number|Opus]] 1 is a set of three [[piano trio]]s (written for [[piano]], [[violin]], and [[cello]]), first performed in 1795 in the house of [[Karl Alois, Prince Lichnowsky|Prince Lichnowsky]], to whom they are dedicated.<ref>{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20050124174602/http://all-about-beethoven.com/trios.html "Beethoven's Trios for string instruments, wind instruments and for mixed ones"]}}, All About Beethoven. {{Retrieved|access-date=2011-12-10}}</ref> The trios were published in 1795.

Despite the Op. 1 designation, these trios were not Beethoven's first published compositions;<ref>{{Cite web|title=Beethoven's first childhood composition is predictably incredible for a 12-year-old|url=https://www.classicfm.com/composers/beethoven/guides/first-composition-theme-variations/|access-date=2021-05-13|publisher=[[Classic FM (UK)]]}}</ref> 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==
# [[Tempo#Italian tempo markings|Allegro]] ([[E-flat major]]), {{music|time|4|4}}
# Adagio cantabile ([[A-flat major]]), {{music|time|3|4}}
# [[Scherzo]]. [[Tempo#Italian tempo markings|Allegro]] assai (E-flat major, with trio in A-flat major), {{music|time|3|4}}
# [[Finale (music)|Finale]]. [[Tempo#Italian tempo markings|Presto]] (E-flat major), {{music|time|2|4}}

The first [[movement (music)|movement]] opens with an ascending [[Arpeggio|arpeggiated]] figure (a so-called [[Mannheim Rocket]], like that opening the first movement of the composer's own [[Piano Sonata No. 1 (Beethoven)|Piano Sonata no 1, Opus 2 no 1]]),<ref>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'', [https://books.google.com/books?id=nlDOICBmhbkC&pg=PA106 p. 106] (Chris Woodstra, Gerald Brennan, Allen Schrott eds., Hal Leonard Corporation, 2005).</ref>

==No. 2 in G major==
# Adagio, {{music|time|3|4}} – [[Allegro (music)|Allegro]] vivace, {{music|time|2|4}} ([[G major]])
# Largo con espressione ([[E major]]), {{music|time|6|8}}
# Scherzo. Allegro (G major, with a trio in [[B minor]]), {{music|time|3|4}}
# Finale. Presto (G major), {{music|time|2|4}}

==No. 3 in C minor==
# Allegro con brio ([[C minor]]), {{music|time|3|4}}
# [[Andante (tempo)|Andante]] cantabile con [[variation (music)|Variazioni]] (E-flat major), {{music|time|2|4}}
# [[Minuet]]to. Quasi allegro (C minor, with a trio in [[C major]]), {{music|time|3|4}}
# Finale. Prestissimo (C minor, concluding in C major), {{music|time|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 [[String Quintet, Op. 104 (Beethoven)|C minor string quintet, Op. 104]].<ref>[http://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/tw.asp?w=W12408 String Quintet in C minor, Op. 104.] Hyperion Records. {{Retrieved|access-date=2011-12-10}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{IMSLP|work=Piano Trio in E-flat major, Op.1 No.1 (Beethoven, Ludwig van)|cname=Piano Trio No. 1|work2=Piano Trio in G major, Op.1 No.2 (Beethoven, Ludwig van)|cname2=Piano Trio No. 2|work3=Piano Trio in C minor, Op.1 No.3 (Beethoven, Ludwig van)|cname3=Piano Trio No. 3}}
*[https://traffic.libsyn.com/gardnermuseum/beethoven_op1no1.mp3 Performance of Piano Trio No. 1] by the [[Claremont Trio]] from the [[Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum]] in [[MP3]] format

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[[Category:Piano trios by Ludwig van Beethoven|Piano Trio 01]]
[[Category:1793 compositions]]
[[Category:Compositions in E-flat major]]
[[Category:Compositions in G major]]
[[Category:Compositions in C minor]]
[[Category:Music dedicated to benefactors or patrons]]
[[Category:Music dedicated to nobility or royalty]]