Notes for: August 5, 2014
Notwithstanding his homely features and lack of social graces, Beethoven won the friendship – at times, the affection – of a surprising number of socially prominent young women. One of the liveliest was a Hungarian countess, Anna Marie Niczky, who had married one of Beethoven’s earliest patrons, Count Peter Erdödy, when she was only 17 years old, but was now separated from her husband. In 1809, Beethoven published two piano trios dedicated to the countess; we hear the second this evening.
In 1808, the countess invited Beethoven to move into her spacious apartment. There is no evidence that any sexual relationship was involved. Beethoven had been an itinerant lodger, changing quarters frequently because of minor discomforts or disagreements with landlords, and she hoped to help him settle down. Unfortunately, the irritable and inflexible composer made a poor houseguest, and after six months of petty squabbling he moved out.
While still living in the countess’s home, Beethoven wrote the two trios as a gesture of appreciation for her hospitality. Then the countess made the well-intentioned mistake of intervening in a dispute between Beethoven and his manservant, bribing the servant to keep peace with his difficult employer. This evoked a furious outburst from Beethoven, who instructed his publisher to change the dedication of the trios to Archduke Rudolph.
Happily, there was a reconciliation, and Beethoven not only let the original dedication stand but subsequently dedicated to the countess his two great cello sonatas, Opus 102. Years later he was still writing to the countess, whom he often called his Beichtvater or “father confessor.” In particular, she provided a sympathetic ear for his complaints about his physical ailments; in one letter he reported that was he drinking 75 bottles of medicine a month.
The second of the two Opus 70 trios is in four movements. The first opens with a slow, sustained introduction, its melody moving downward and upward in stately steps. The main theme, in 6/8 meter, is dance-like. The second theme, presented initially by the cello, is a variant of the introduction. The themes are worked over extensively in the development, then restated somewhat altered, and the slow introduction returns briefly to launch the coda.
The second movement is built on two contrasting themes stated consecutively – one in a gavotte rhythm and the other in an emphatic minor. The themes are then followed by four variations – two on each theme, played alternately, still following the major-minor pattern. The themes are then blended in a short coda. Beethoven was to use this “double variation” structure in the slow movement of his Fifth Symphony, composed the same year.
Normally, Beethoven would give us either a minuet or a scherzo for the third movement, captioning it accordingly. Here, however, the only caption is the tempo marking, Allegretto ma non troppo, and the tempo is almost a slow waltz. In the contrasting middle section, the strings and the piano alternate in a question-and-answer pattern.
The short introduction to the finale is built on a 16th-note pattern punctuated by string chords.
This leads to the jaunty main theme and two lively secondary themes. However, the 16th note pattern is always nearby, ushering in and then animating the development and finally dominating the exciting closing coda.