“I take the liberty of sending to Your Electoral Highness various musical pieces… composed by my dear pupil Beethoven, who has been graciously entrusted to me. I flatter myself that these pieces will be kindly received by Your Electoral Highness as worthy proof of his industry outside his regular studies. On the strength of these pieces, connoisseurs and amateurs must own without bias that Beethoven will one day take his place as one of the greatest composers in Europe, and I shall be proud to call myself his master. I only wish that he may still remain with me a while longer.”
F. J. Haydn: to the Elector of Cologne, Vienna, November 23, 1793
Thus was the gracious social introduction that the so-called “Father of Chamber Music” offered on behalf of the talented young viola player of twenty-two he met in 1792. That was the year Beethoven came to Vienna to study harmony and counterpoint and had hoped to travel with Haydn to London where, from 1791 to 1795, Haydn was himself being introduced to London audiences with great acclaim as man who was still creating exciting new work in his sixties!
Among those works was Piano Trio in C major, Hob. XV:21 (1794) that also introduces our thirty-third BCMS Season. This work, in turn precedes one of Beethoven’s most virtuosic and humorous string trios, Op. 9, No. 1 in G major (1798), the very form that Beethoven perfected before moving on to write the great string quartets, symphonies, sonatas, ballets and opera.
Our program concludes with another introduction to longevity, Richard Strauss’ great Piano Quartet in C minor, Op. 13 (1883-4). Although he was only 20 years old at that time, the quartet was considered to be his only “mature” work for chamber ensemble, one that looks back on Beethoven and Brahms with his invocation of the heroic key C minor (same key as their most famous symphonies). Strauss was known to quote himself ever after. To those who know what comes next, this work can seem oddly predictive and, for all its heroism, minor in the presence of his later achievements.
To those who will be introduced to chamber music by this concert, and to those who are acquainted with this medium and these works, we hope that you will be charmed and refreshed by the originality of each of these composers, both young and young at heart. As Haydn famously said,
“There was no one around me to confuse or torment me, thus I was obliged to be original.”
Enjoy!
