HDM in Concert: Beethoven - String Trios

A world-class string trio pays tribute to Ludwig van Beethoven, the “Composer of the Year 2027.” His String Trios, Op. 9, were composed in Vienna during the final years of the 18th century, where the young musician, a native of Bonn, had been working as a freelance composer and pianist since 1792. The pieces are dedicated to the patron Johann Georg von Browne. Sometimes described as a precursor to the string quartets, the trios are better characterized as a classical fulfillment of the genre that had only just been established. The key of C minor in the third trio stands for seriousness and passion. In contrast, the first trio in G major has a lighthearted character. Friedrich Cerha, the world-renowned Austrian composer who explored exciting new sonic worlds in his orchestral work *Spiegel* in 1960–61, and who later celebrated successes with operas such as *Baal*, premiered at the Salzburg Festival in 1981, engaged exquisitely with the European tradition in his chamber music—and in doing so discovered a new classicism: “I didn’t want to give up the qualities I love; I wanted to reclaim them step by step.”