17. The Archduke
from The Concert - Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Hosted by Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
Beethoven: Piano Trio No. 7 in B-flat Major, Op. 97 (“Archduke”) (September 10, 2006) This week’s episode is dedicated just one piece: Beethoven’s “Archduke” trio. This piece was named for the Archduke Randolph, a student and friend of Beethoven’s for many years. But many performers and writers note that the evocative “Archduke” title seems to fit the music. The words “noble” and “grand” crop up frequently in descriptions of the piece, which is an expansive 45 minutes long and contains, according the authoritative “New Grove Dictionary,” one of the most beautiful slow movements Beethoven ever wrote. The premiere performance of the “Archduke” trio, in 1814, also has the unhappy distinction of being Beethoven’s last public appearance as a pianist. Violinist Louis Spohr, who played with Beethoven in the recital, recalled the experience vividly. “In the forte passages,” he wrote, “the poor deaf man pounded on the keys until the strings jangled, and in the piano [or quiet sections] he played so softly that whole groups of notes were omitted.” But Beethoven’s playing may tell us something else about the piece. It is a sweeping, monumental work, and the immense variation Beethoven was aiming for in loud and soft perhaps hints at the vast territory he was trying to cover in this, his last piano trio.
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