Beethoven Piano Trios Seraphim Trio

• Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 - 1827): Piano Trio No. 2 in G Major, Op. 1 No. 2:
• 1 Beethoven: Piano Trio No. 2 in G Major, Op. 1 No. 2: 1. Adagio - Allegro vivace 12:01
• 2 Beethoven: Piano Trio No. 2 in G Major, Op. 1 No. 2: 2. Largo con espressione 10:13
• 3 Beethoven: Piano Trio No. 2 in G Major, Op. 1 No. 2: 3. Scherzo. Allegro 08:20
• 4 Beethoven: Piano Trio No. 2 in G Major, Op. 1 No. 2: 4. Finale. Presto 03:17
• Piano Trio No. 5 in D Major, Op. 70 No. 1 "Geistertrio":
• 5 Beethoven: Piano Trio No. 5 in D Major, Op. 70 No. 1 "Geistertrio": 1. Allegro vivace e con brio 07:28
• 6 Beethoven: Piano Trio No. 5 in D Major, Op. 70 No. 1 "Geistertrio": 2. Largo assai ed espressivo 09:40
• 7 Beethoven: Piano Trio No. 5 in D Major, Op. 70 No. 1 "Geistertrio": 3. Presto 08:35
• Piano Trio No. 4 in B-Flat Major, Op. 11 "Gassenhauer":
• 8 Beethoven: Piano Trio No. 4 in B-Flat Major, Op. 11 "Gassenhauer": 1. Allegro con brio 09:08
• 9 Beethoven: Piano Trio No. 4 in B-Flat Major, Op. 11 "Gassenhauer": 2. Adagio 04:36
• 10 Beethoven: Piano Trio No. 4 in B-Flat Major, Op. 11 "Gassenhauer": 3. Tema ("Pria ch’io l’impegno") con variazioni (Allegretto) 06:56
• Total Runtime 01:20:14

Info for Beethoven Piano Trios

The Seraphim Trio make a welcome return to ABC Classics with an album of Beethoven’s piano trios.

Beethoven’s trios are amongst the finest works in the chamber canon, taking the form spawned by Mozart and Haydn and developing it into a musical genre which reached symphonic proportions in its musical language and virtuosity.

The album combines two early trios with the later ‘Ghost’, showcasing the radical development of Beethoven’s style. The opening trio, Op.1 No.2, was written in 1795, when Beethoven was just 23 years old, and shows the influence of both Haydn (in its wit and surprise) and Mozart (in its lyricism – particularly evident in the sublime slow movement).Written just two years later, the Op.11 trio earns its nickname ‘Gassenhauer’, or ‘street hit’, on account of its final movement, a delightful set of variations on Joseph Weigl’s song Pria ch’io l’impegno: ‘Before I go to work I must have something to eat.’

By 1808, when the ‘Ghost’ trio was written, Beethoven’s musical language had developed dramatically – and the piano trio, as the Seraphim’s pianist Anna Goldsworthy comments, ‘had now become the repository of some of his largest ideas’. ‘Over the previous decade,’ Goldsworthy continues, ‘Beethoven had been conducting his experiments with piano sonority, realised most completely in the proto-impressionistic slow movement. This spectral, eerie sound world, never previously inhabited by humans, is the source of the trio’s nickname ‘Ghost’.’

This album grew out of the Seraphim’s Beethoven Immersion project in 2015, when they performed the complete Beethoven trios in venues around Australia – including complete cycles in Tasmania and South Australia, and pop-up performances in libraries, museums, art galleries and train stations.

Seraphim Trio

Seraphim Trio
Over the last two decades, Helen Ayres, Anna Goldsworthy and Tim Nankervis have remained steadfastly committed to chamber music – from building the contemporary repertoire, to developing new audiences and teaching the next generation of performers. Inspiring others through intelligent programming and a deep knowledge and love of chamber music, Seraphim Trio never fails to delight audiences.

Winners of the Piano Trio Prize and the Audience Choice Award at the Australian National Chamber Music Competition in 2001 (now the Asia-Pacific Chamber Music Competition), Seraphim Trio has regularly performed at the Melbourne International Arts Festival, the Port Fairy Spring Music Festival, the Adelaide Festival of Arts, the Peninsular Summer Music Festival and in 2013, Opera Australia’s Ring Festival in Melbourne.

Alongside its acclaimed subscription series Seraphim Trio is frequently broadcast on ABC Classic FM and on the MBS network, and maintains a robust commissioning program.

Seraphim frequently collaborates with Australia's leading musicians: most recently with Diana Doherty, Paul Dean, Lisa Harper-Brown and David Elton.

The group has studied in Germany with Hatto Beyerle, and in Australia with William Hennessy, Eleonora Sivan, Mark Mogilevski, Ronald Farren-Price and Lois Simpson.

This album contains no booklet.