Don’t be fooled into thinking this was the first thing Beethoven had written. Opus numbers are not reliable chronological guides to Beethoven’s music. The composer was in his mid 20s and had written dozens of pieces before this, nor was this his first piano trio.
The three piano trios of Beethoven’s Opus 1 are “statement” works, carefully crafted for maximum return. They were dedicated to Prince Karl Lichnowsky, in whose Vienna home they were premiered. Lichnowsky persuaded many of his aristocratic friends to subscribe to the edition Beethoven published in 1795, which proved to be a great artistic and financial success.
This trio contains Beethoven’s first true scherzo movement. He traded his earlier minuets for something faster paced, bouncy and comical in this scherzo third movement. The spirited Finale has brief moments of mock-introspection, sudden fits of dramatic passion and key changes – all examples of the ingenuity and skill for which Beethoven is remembered.
