Ludwig van
Beethoven's Concerto for Violin, Cello, and Piano in C major, Op. 56,
more commonly known as the Triple Concerto, was composed in 1803
and later published in 1804 under Breitkopf & Härtel. The choice of the
three solo instruments effectively makes this a concerto for piano trio
and the only concerto Beethoven ever wrote for more than one solo instrument. A
typical performance takes approximately thirty-seven minutes.
Beethoven's early
biographer Anton Schindler claimed
that the Triple Concerto was written for Beethoven's royal pupil, the
Archduke Rudolf (Rudolf von
Habsburg-Lothringen).[citation
needed] The Archduke, who became an accomplished pianist
and composer under Beethoven's tutelage, was only in his mid-teens at this time,
and it seems plausible that Beethoven's strategy was to create a showy but
relatively easy piano part that would be backed up by two more mature and
skilled soloists. However, there is no record of Rudolf ever performing the
work—it was not publicly premiered until 1808, at the summer "Augarten" concerts in Vienna—and when it
came to be published, the concerto bore a dedication to a different patron: Prince Lobkowitz
(Franz Joseph Maximilian Fürst von Lobkowitz).
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Movements
The concerto is
divided into three movements:
- ● Allegro
- ● Largo (attacca)
- ● Rondo alla
polacca
The first movement is broadly scaled and cast in a moderate march tempo, and
includes decorative solo passage-work and leisurely repetitions, variations, and
extensions of assorted themes. A common feature of this, is a dotted
rhythm (short-long, short-long) that lends an air of graciousness and pomp,
that is not exactly "heroic" but would have conveyed a character of fashionable
dignity to contemporary listeners; and perhaps a hint of the noble "chivalric"
manner that was becoming a popular element of novels, plays, operas, and
pictures. The jogging triplets that figure in much of the accompaniment also
contribute to this effect. In this movement, as in the other two movements, the
cello enters solo with the first subject. Unusual for a concerto of this scale,
the first movement begins quietly, with a gradual crescendo into the exposition,
with the main theme later introduced by the soloists. Another unusual trait is
the exposition which modulates to A minor, instead of the expected G major
(Beethoven's friend Ferdinand Ries later did
the same mediant transition in his sixth piano concerto).
The slow movement, in A-flat major, is a
large-scale introduction to the finale, which follows it without pause. The
cello and violin share the melodic material of the movement between them while
the piano provides a discreet accompaniment.
Dramatic repeated notes launch into the third movement, which is a polonaise
(also called "polacca"), an emblem of aristocratic fashion during the Napoleonic
era, which is, thus, in keeping with the character of "polite entertainment"
that characterizes this concerto as a whole. The bolero-like rhythm also
characteristic of the polonaise, can be heard in the central minor theme of the
final movement.
In addition to the violin, cello, and piano soloists, the concerto is scored
for one flute, two
oboes, two clarinets, two
bassoons, two
horns, two trumpets, timpani, and strings.
●
Recordings
Several popular recordings of the Triple Concerto include:
- David Oistrakh, Sviatoslav
Knushevitsky and Lev Oborin, under Sir Malcolm Sargent, Philharmonia
Orchestra, 1958
- David Oistrakh, Mstislav
Rostropovich and Sviatoslav Richter,
under Herbert von Karajan,
Berlin Philharmonic,
1969
- Isaac
Stern, Leonard Rose and Eugene
Istomin, under Eugene Ormandy, Philadelphia
Orchestra, 1964
- Itzhak Perlman, Yo Yo Ma and Daniel Barenboim, under
Daniel Barenboim, Berlin Philharmonic,
1995
- Renaud
Capucon, Mischa Maisky and Martha Argerich, under
Alexandre
Rabinovitch, Orchestra
della Svizzera Italiana, 2003
