Piano Trios, Op. 1 (Beethoven)

Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox musical composition 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.<ref>Template:Usurped, All About Beethoven. Template:Retrieved</ref> The trios were published in 1795.

Despite the Op. 1 designation, these trios were not Beethoven's first published compositions;<ref>Template:Cite web</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

1. Allegro (E-flat major), Template:Music
2. Adagio cantabile (A-flat major), Template:Music
3. Scherzo. Allegro assai (E-flat major, with trio in A-flat major), Template:Music
4. Finale. Presto (E-flat major), Template:Music

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),<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, p. 106 (Chris Woodstra, Gerald Brennan, Allen Schrott eds., Hal Leonard Corporation, 2005).</ref>

No. 2 in G major

1. Adagio, Template:Music – Allegro vivace, Template:Music (G major)
2. Largo con espressione (E major), Template:Music
3. Scherzo. Allegro (G major, with a trio in B minor), Template:Music
4. Finale. Presto (G major), Template:Music

No. 3 in C minor

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

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.<ref>String Quintet in C minor, Op. 104. Hyperion Records. Template:Retrieved</ref>

External links

• Template:IMSLP
• Performance of Piano Trio No. 1 by the Claremont Trio from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in MP3 format