BBC Music Magazine – Emily's Music Dump

Ludwig Van Beethoven (1770-1827)

String Trio in G, Opus 9/1

String Trio in C Minor, Opus 9/3

Franz Schubert (1797-1828)

String Trio Movement in B-flat, D471

Beethoven String Trio of London – BBC Music

Recorded at Haberdashers’ Aske’s School, Elstree, Herts in January 1994

ONE-SENTENCE REVIEW:

I’m back after a couple of months of intense real work and so are Beethoven and Schubert!

ORIGINAL LINER NOTES (by Ruth Waterman):

Beethoven String Trios – Opus 9/1 & 3

Beethoven write five works for string trio, all composed before any of his quartets.

The three trios of Opus 9 were dedicated to Count Browne, a wealthy patron of Irish descent.

As in Beethoven’s first set of three piano trios, (Opus 1), the third is in the key of C minor and it expresses the turbulence that seemed to emerge whenever Beethoven wrote in that key.

There is tremendous verve in the two trios on this disc, as each player is treated as a virtuoso and subjected to equal demands.

Both trios open with a statement in unison, but the show of unity quickly disintegrates in the quest for individuality; and both slow movements reveal Beethoven’s supreme lyricism.

Schubert Trio Movement, D471

A first movement and forty bars of a second are all that Schubert completed before abandoning his trio.

Shortly afterwards, he wrote another trio, also in B-flat (D581), that stands as his one complete magnificent contribution to this genre.

However, the Allegro heard here is a gem in its own right; a shining example of his gentle lyricism, his playfulness, and his fondness for veiling his melodies in wistfulness.

Written in September 1816, it was most likely included for performance at one of his popular house-concerts, in which he would have played the viola part.

TRACK LISTING:

1-4: Beethoven Trio in G, Opus 9/1 [30:12]
5-8: Beethoven Trio in C-minor, Opus 9/3 [26:05]
9: Schubert Trio Movement in B-flat, D471 [5:58]

FINAL THOUGHT:

Solid works but not all that exciting in the playing (not like the clip above!) This is another of the free discs that came with my BBC Music Magazine subscription in the 1990s. But I’m just so happy to be back doing this and not my real job that I’m giving it a higher rating than it deserves.

Emily Sachs – President – Manka Music Group (A division of Manka Bros. Studios – The World’s Largest Media Company)

Ludwig Van Beethoven (1770-1827)

Piano Sonata in B Flat Major, Opus 106 – “Hammerklavier”

Piano Sonata in C minor, Opus 111

Edith Vogel, piano

Recorded in 1994 (BBC Music Magazine)

ONE-SENTENCE REVIEW:

Other than sounding like it was recorded in a high school gymnasium (lots of echo), when you cut through the sound clutter, the performance is excellent.

ORIGINAL LINER NOTES (by Misha Donat):

Beethoven published his first three sonatas, Opus 2 (1-3) in 1796, when he was in his mid-20s, and dedicated them to his former teacher Haydn.

Two decades and two dozen piano sonatas later, he began work on what was to be his final group of five sonatas. For some time he had been attempting to find German equivalents for the traditional Italian musical forms; and in 1817, he instructed his publisher to use the term “Hammerklavier” instead of “pianoforte” for all his future piano works.

His instruction was, however, unambiguously carried out only in the case of Opus 106 – the second of his late sonatas. As a grand sonata in four distinct movements, the Hammerklavier stands apart from its companions. It is a work of unprecedented scope, with the broadest slow movement Beethoven ever wrote for the piano, and a finale consisting of a colossal fugue – which makes huge demand on performer and listener alike.

Like the Sonata Opus 111, the Hammerklavier was dedicated to Beethoven’s staunchest patron, Archduke Rudolph of Austria, and its fanfare-like opening phrase was designed to fit the words, “Vivat, vivat Rudolphus!”

Opus 111 was Beethoven’s last sonata, and also his final work in his characteristically dramatic key of C minor. This time there are only two movements; the first begins with an intense slow introduction, out of which the Allegro explodes with force.

The finale is a set of variations on a serene ‘Arietta.’ The variations gradually increase in intricacy until they reach a long-sustained trill, and the sonata comes to a close in an atmosphere of profound calm.

TRACK LISTING:

1-4: Piano Sonata in B flat Major, Opus 106 – “Hammerklavier”
5-6: Piano Sonata in C minor, Opus 111

FINAL THOUGHT:

I used to love with my new copy of BBC Magazine would come in the mid-1990s with the CD glued to the cover. The glue would tear the cover of the magazine off until they decided (after the first few issues and probably thousands of complaints) to put the CD in plastic. The performances were always hit or miss but I have a nice nostalgia for all those discs in my collection.

Emily Sachs – President – Manka Music Group (A division of Manka Bros. Studios – The World’s Largest Media Company)

Tag: BBC Music Magazine

Beethoven String Trios Opus 9 – Schubert Trio Movement D471

Beethoven – Piano Sonatas – Opus 106 and Opus 111