Opus 87 Trio in C major for two oboes and English horn (two violins and viola)
I) Allegro – II) Adagio Cantabile – III) Menuetto – Allegro molto – IV) Finale – Presto
Opus 87 – Trio in C major for two oboes and English horn op. 87, 1794, published in Vienna, Artaria, April 1806. GA. no. 63 (series 8/5) – B. 87 – KH. 87 – L. III, p. 227 – N. 87 – P. 49 – T. 52.
Official title: „Opus 87“ Trio (C-dur) für zwei Oboen und Englisch Horn
Widmung: —NGA VI/1 AGA 63 = Serie 8/5
Not everyone agrees on dating this work to 1794. This date is accepted by the catalogues of Nottebohm, Prod’homme, and Kinsky-Halm, based on the earliest information from A. Fuchs, a well-known Viennese autograph collector (who, among other things, provided much information about the inventory and auction of the «successione Beethoven»). It is considered to be from 1797 by the Thayer and Thayer-Riemann catalogues; according to the latter, due to the artistic maturity of the Trio, it could not have been composed in the very early years of the master’s stay in Vienna.
We lean towards the date of 1794, while acknowledging that there were revisions in the following years before publication. The original manuscript is preserved at the Deutsche Staatsbibliothek in Berlin and bears the title: “Terzetto da L. v. Beethoven, Oboe prima, seconda, Corno inglese.”
Attached to it is also the beginning of a revised copy that stops at bar 27 of the second part of the first movement — titled “Terzetto, Oboe primo, Oboe 2do, Corno Engloise (sic), (and then in another hand ‘oder zwei Violini und Viola’)” da L. von Beethoven, with an added transcription for viola beneath the part for English horn.
The first edition was announced, according to the Thayer catalogue, in the Wiener Zeitung on 12 April 1806 with the following notice: “Beethoven. Grand Trio pour 2 Violons et Viole, tire d’un Trio pour 2 Hautbois et Cor Anglais (op. 29); — Sonate pour le Clavecin avec Violon tirée d’un Trio (do); — Grosses Trio für 2 Oboen und 1 englisches Horn (do).”
Thayer adds that the Sonata was the first to appear. Other transcriptions published by various editors also carry the opus number 29. Publishing circumstances, independent of any chronological reasoning, later led to the reassignment of the work to Opus 87, which has remained the definitive number.
That the arrangement for two violins and viola is not by Beethoven himself (though at least indirectly authorised and perhaps revised by him) is also clear from a passage in a letter to the Leipzig publisher Peters dated 5 June 1822, in which the composer, among several works he proposes for purchase, mentions a grand trio for two oboes and an English horn, which might also be transcribed for other instruments. The Trio and the Variations on “Là ci darem la mano” for the same ensemble are Beethoven’s only compositions employing the English horn — an instrument then far from the significance it would later acquire thanks to subsequent musicians.
Mozartian precedents of a certain affinity can be found especially in the Divertimenti for two clarinets (or basset horns) and bassoon (K., ed. 1937, Ahn. 229). The Thayer-Riemann catalogue also mentions a trio for the same instruments composed by Wendt and performed in Vienna by the brothers Johann, Franz, and Philipp Teimer (according to the announcement of the Tonkünstler Gesellschaft on 23 December 1793). According to Nottebohm, it was precisely this work that inspired Beethoven to compose a similar piece.
Creation and publication: The Trio was most likely composed in 1795 in Vienna. The original edition in parts was published by Artaria in Vienna in April 1806. Since the autograph score does not include a date, and no sketches have survived, the work can only be dated based on the type of paper used for both the score and the manuscript (as documented in Johnson/Fischhof, vol. 1, pp. 92–102 and 142–148).
Gustav Nottebohm suggested that Beethoven might have found inspiration for the composition of Op. 87 and WoO 28 from a concert held by the Wiener Tonkünstler-Societät on 23 December 1793, where the brothers Johann, Franz, and Philipp Teimer performed a piece scored for this same instrumentation by the composer and oboist Johann Went (1745–1801). According to Theodore Albrecht, Beethoven was not merely inspired by the event but wrote both works specifically for the Teimer brothers. These three musicians were all members of Prince Schwarzenberg’s orchestra, and it is likely that Beethoven’s trios were performed several times in the prince’s private concerts. In fact, copies of both Op. 87 and WoO 28 were reportedly owned by Philipp Teimer (Albrecht/Op87undWo028).
Aloys Fuchs suggested 1794 as the year of composition, although he provided no supporting evidence (TDR II, pp. 42f). The first edition by Artaria was advertised in the Wiener Zeitung on 12 April 1806. This announcement also included the string trio arrangements, which, according to Egon Voss, were published with Beethoven’s approval (see the preface to the Urtext edition, G. Henle Verlag, HN 948). The trio also appeared as a sonata for piano and violin.
Regarding the opus number: The original edition and the two arrangements were listed by Artaria under “Op. 29”. However, the title pages do not actually show an opus number, most likely to avoid confusion with Beethoven’s String Quintet Op. 29, which had been published at the end of 1802. In a report Artaria sent to Beethoven on 24 July 1819 (BGA 1317), the „Grand Trio pour 2 Oboe und englisch Horn, Artaria“ is listed among works that had “gar keine Nummern und kein Opus” (no number and no opus).
In the “Catalogue des Oeuvres” from 1819 — published together with Op. 106 (see appendix Verlagswesen/Werkzählung) — Artaria listed the wind trio as “No. 29” and the string trio as “No. 55”. At the same time, the „Waldstein-Variationen“ for piano four hands (WoO 67), published by Simrock in 1794, were assigned Op. 87, although this number was arbitrarily chosen.
The attribution of Op. 87 to the trio itself appears to originate from Hofmeister’s thematic catalogue (Hofmeister/Index 1819). Between October 1812 — when Op. 86 (the Mass in C major) was published by Breitkopf & Härtel — and June 1815 — when Steiner published the piano sonata in E minor (Op. 90) — there was a gap of three opus numbers. This gap was filled only in 1819, based on the indexes of Hofmeister (Op. 87) and Artaria (Op. 88 and Op. 89): Op. 87 was assigned to the Trio, Op. 88 to the song „Das Glück der Freundschaft“, and Op. 89 — chronologically accurate — to the Polonaise for piano.
Later, the trio also appeared as Op. 66 in the „Verzeichniß der sämmtlichen Werke von Ludwig van Beethoven“ compiled by Tobias Haslinger (c. 1830, in D-BNba), and again under the same number in the systematic index included in Seyfried’s „L. van Beethovens Studien im Generalbasse […]“ (1832) (Seyfried/Studi).
First performance: unknown. Sketches: lost. Score: held in the Mus. SM. autogr. Beethoven Artaria 151 (in D–B). Dating: 1795 (see Johnson/Fischhof vol. 1, pp. 102 and 140f). Title information: On folio 1 recto, the score reads: “Terzetto da L. v. Beethoven.” The manuscript consists of 12 folios with 20 pages of score (folios 1r–12r); folios 10 recto, 11, and 12 verso are blank. Paper: horizontal format, 23 × 31.5 cm, with double staves. Two types of paper are used: (a) folios 5–6 and 11–12 (b) pages 1–4 and 7–10; Provenance: originally part of the Artaria publishing archive in Vienna. From 1897, it belonged to Erich Prieger in Bonn, and was acquired in 1901. Facsimile: available via the SBB online archive. First edition (in parts): published in April 1806, Vienna, Artaria et Comp., VN/PN 1804 (Oboes 1 and 2 labelled “1803–04”). Title page reads: “Grand Trio / pour / Deux Hautbois et un / Cor anglais / composé / par / LOUIS van BEETHOVEN / Op: / N° 1804. f 2. / à Vienne chez Artaria et Comp.”
Opus 55 (87) Trio in C major for two violins and viola (two oboes and English horn)
I) Allegro – II) Adagio Cantabile – III) Menuetto – Allegro molto – IV) Finale – Presto
