When Ludwig van Beethoven’s Second Symphony premiered, to the Viennese public it was simply the sequel to a First Symphony by an up-and-coming composer who had studied with Joseph Haydn. Like many early 19th-century premieres, it was a do-it-yourself production: Beethoven conducted, played piano, booked the theater, and sold the tickets.
In 1798 Beethoven thought the three trios he had just published as Op. 9 were his best works to date.
Beethoven was deeply indignant at the very idea of noble birth. The son of a town musician, he resented those of higher class, claiming a kind of artistic nobility for himself.
Beethoven’s second cello sonata has an unusual form: its first two movements are combined, beginning with an Adagio and then transitioning into a more typical Allegro.
The C-minor Piano Trio was the controversial piece in the Op. 1 set—Haydn criticized it, and Beethoven thought his teacher was jealous of it.
Beethoven was best known as a pianist, but he also played violin and viola, and this is his first published work for strings alone.
The sharp opening of Beethoven’s first piano trio announced to the world that a new, important composer had arrived: it was this piece that he chose to publish as his Op. 1, No. 1.