WoO 38 Trio in E-flat major for Piano, Violin and Cello
I) Allegro moderato – II) Scherzo – Allegro ma non troppo – III) Rondò – Allegretto
WoO 38 Trio in E-flat major for Piano, Violin and Cello, c. 1790–1791, published in Frankfurt, Dunst, 1830. GA. number 86 series 11/8 – Bruers 153 KH. (WoO) 38 – L. IV, page 362/o – Nottebohm page 32 Petesrs 32 – Schunemannn pages 217/26 Thayer 13.
Official title: WoO 38 Trio (Es-dur) für Klavier, Violin and Cello Widmung: – NGA IV/3 AGA 86 = Series 11/8 (Hess 49)
According to an entry in Franz Grasser’s catalogue of Beethoven’s works, the Trio was originally intended to be part of the group later included in Opus 1; later the Maestro excluded it, considering it “too weak”. The following assertion (in German) was attached to the above-mentioned edition of 1830: “The undersigned confirm that the Trio for piano, violin and cello which thus begins (follows the opening theme) is an authentic work by Beethoven, that Mr. Anton Schindler possesses the original manuscript, belonging to the master’s posthumous works, and that it has not appeared in any public edition. Vienna, February 1, 1830. A. Diabelli, Carl Czerny, Ferd. Ries». “That the manuscript, well known to him, is by Beethoven confirms Franz Wegeler.” We do not know if this manuscript still exists today, and where it is located. Schindler, for his part, informs us that Beethoven wrote the Trio at the age of fifteen, and declared it to be “one of the best essays of his free style“. There is scepticism regarding these two recent reports; Thayer-Riemann suggests that Beethoven may have been either ironic or misunderstood. The three Movements share related themes: the Allegro con brio features light, flowing quatrains of sixteenth notes; the Rondo connects its refrain and interludes both formally and spiritually; and the Scherzo is marked by a recurring 3/4 eighth-note motif. We could ask ourselves if the Maestro did not think of a different “typology” and putting into practice an immature but new idea, tending towards a more fluid and fluent musical language, without too much concern to develop ideas, work on contrasts, drama or dialectics, supported by an almost well-defined sonata-form in all its parts. Beethoven may have considered the work “too weak” for inclusion in his opus 1 Trios, which are more structurally solid and inspired.
Additionally, there is an absence of slow tempo, resulting in tonal uniformity.
Origin and publication: Composed around 1790/91 in Bonn. The First edition was published posthumously in 1830 by Dunst in Frankfurt am Main. The basis for the dating of this Piano Trio, whose autograph score can no longer be verified, is the information contained in the manuscript index of Beethoven’s works by Anton Gräffer: “Komponiert 1791 und ursprünglich zu den 3 Trios Op. 1 bestimmt, aber von Beethoven als zu schwach weggelassen” “Originally composed in 1791 for the 3 Trios op. 1, but omitted by Beethoven as too weak” (TDR I p. 318).
The First edition published by Franz Philipp Dunst in Frankfurt as part of the “Oeuvres complets” is indicated by Hofmeister in November/December 1830, but should have appeared in the course of 1830, especially after the accompanying “Erklärung” “declaration” on the authenticity of the work is dated 1 February 1830 (erroneously indicated as 1836 in Thayer/1865). Anton Diabelli, Carl Czerny, Ferdinand Ries, and Franz Gerhard Wegeler confirmed that the Trio is an authentic work by Beethoven, whose autograph was in the possession of Anton Schindler, and that the work “in keiner öffentlichen Herausgabe bisher erschienen” “has not previously appeared in any public edition.” According to Anton Schindler, “.. in 1830 […] through the mediation of Ferdinand Ries” “1830 […] durch Vermittlung von Ferdinand Ries” (Schindler/Beethoven, 1860, vol. 1, p. 10, note).
In his review of the edition (Caecilia 13, 1831, p. 284f), Gottfried Weber makes specific reference to the presentation of the Piano part: “Besonders dankenswert ist es, daß der Verleger über den Zeilen der Klavierstimme der beiden Trios [WoO 38 und WoO 39] auf zwei weiteren kleinen Notenzeilen […] auch die Violin- und Violoncellstimme hat stechen [richtig: lithographieren] lassen, wodurch die Klavierstimme […] den Nutzen gewinnt, bei Aufführungen der Trios als Partitur zu dienen“.
A later edition has the addition “Paris, chez M. Schlesinger” stamped after the name Dunst in the title. This was probably in connection with Maurice Schlesinger’s inclusion of the two trios WoO 38 and 39 in his “Collection complete des oeuvres […] pour le piano forte”, Livraison 10 (M. p. 1075 and 1037, see Anhang Sammelausgaben/Schlesinger). They were listed in the Bibliographie de la France in January 1831. First execution unknown. According to Anton Schindler’s letter to Breitkopf & Härtel dated 13 June 1842 (yearbook “Der Bär” 1927, p. 114), the autograph score was given to Franz Philipp Dunst.
- “TRIO / for the / Piano Forte / Violin & Cello / PAR / Louis van Beethoven / Posthumous Work / Complete Works for Piano. / Part 3 No. 13. / FRANKFURT s/M, / at Fr. Ph. Dunst. / property of the publisher.”
