Piano Trio in D major Op.70 No.1 “Geister” (1808)

Anyone who could entertain Beethoven as a house guest for as long as Countess Erdödy did – at her Viennese residence in Krugerstrasse in the autumn and winter of 1808-9 – deserved a handsome present in return. She was duly rewarded by the dedication of the two great Piano Trios Op.70. She very nearly lost it when the composer fell out with her and, after moving to different lodgings in Walfischgasse, decided to address the dedication to Archduke Rudolph instead. But, realising that the misunderstanding was his fault, he changed his mind again and made sure that Countess Erdödy’s name was on the title page when the two works were published in the summer of 1809. Archduke Rudolph was amply recompensed by the dedication of the Piano Trio in B flat Op.97 two years later.

If the “Archduke” Trio is the unsurpassed master work of its kind, its predecessor in D major is one of the most radically original. The “Geister” (Ghosts) nickname was inspired by the eerie harmonic and instrumental colouring of the central Largo, which is quite unlike anything Beethoven had written up to that time. The opening Allegro is no less daring in its way, although the innovation in this case is a matter not so much of sound as of structure. While it is based like a regular sonata-form movement on two contrasting themes, it departs from precedent at the very beginning by presenting both ideas in quick succession, in just eight bars, and in the same key. It is true that the peremptory opening statement on all three instruments in octaves is not quite as clearly in D major as the brief but lyrical cello melody that so magically follows, but they are far too close to each other to be distinguished as first and second subjects.

There is no second subject. The one other motif of any significance, the peaceful little closing theme of the exposition, is just a cadential figure extracted from the cello melody. If it is featured more prominently in the development section than the cello melody itself, it is because it lends itself more readily not only to the dramatic exchanges in the middle but also to a poetic anticipation of the slow movement shortly before them. The recapitulation recalls the two themes as they were on their first appearance and then diverts the cello melody in a refreshingly different harmonic direction. It finds its way back to D major but not so conclusively, in spite of the settling influence of the closing theme, as to preclude the necessity for a short coda.

Evidence for the theory that the Largo assai ed espressivo was originally conceived for a scene with witches in a briefly cherished opera project based on Macbeth is flimsy at best. Even so – although the first three notes on violin and cello echo a prominent motif from the preceding movement, and although the theme introduced by the piano in D minor amounts to no more than a turn and a cadence – Beethoven’s treatment of his material here is certainly suggestive of some kind of supernatural inspiration.The piano theme is heard more than forty times in less than a hundred bars. It appears at all dynamic levels between sotto voce and fortissimo, in a disconcerting variety of harmonies, in textures vibrant with tremolandos in the middle of the keyboard or shivering under icy figuration sliding from the top towards a deeply rumbling bass. Although there is another thematic idea, an expressive few notes introduced at an early stage by the cello in D minor, it is the piano theme that haunts movement. In the middle of the second half, a subtly varied repeat of the first, it offers reassurance by assuming D major harmonies but, as the dry string tremolandos and the chromatic piano line finally confirm, the message is illusory.

It seems at first as though the finale Presto might be constructed like the opening Allegro on just two short themes presented together in D major – in this case the question initially presented by the piano and the happy reply made by violin and cello. This time, however, there is a clear second subject (introduced in E major by the cello), although the first two themes make quite a fruitful partnership in themselves. They are so resourceful in terms of both textural and harmonic development that they need little help in stimulating the spontaneous progress of a perfectly balanced construction.