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It has finally started to cool off. Maybe the swarms of mosquitoes will go too. All burn permits have been canceled city-wide. No burn barrels, no burning, period!! And all those planning to BBQ are warned to be really careful.

I just finished what I needed so I can go home. I did not get to one single thing I planned to do today. Phone calls, problems, research, fixes. Thankfully, none were my fault this week either. And the guy I was waiting for to come pick up his replacement check just called and said he was stuck in traffic and he would get his check on Monday.

Woohoo! I’m headed home!

Did your week end on an up note? Get everything done you planned? A safe and sane commute? ((HUGS))

The slow movement, marked andante cantabile con variazioni, indicates a walking pace, songlike, in theme-and-variations format. Survivors of my Brahms series will recall that in the variations, the harmony underlying the theme must remain constant, bur everything else is permitted to vary; the format of theme is A-A-B-A’-B-A’. Beethoven writes this theme in E-flat; it’s a beautiful little tune reminiscent of Mozart, beguiling in its simplicity.

At 1:15, Variation 1 features an embellished piano line with violin and cello adding their comments.
At 2:25, Variation 2 goes to the violin and cello with the piano providing harmonic backing.
At 3:35, Variation 3 goes to the piano with the violin and cello playing pizzicato in the background. (“Pizzicato” means plucking the strings, not a small pizza!)
In theme-and-variation movements, it was practically a law that you had to write a variation in the opposite mode. At 4:40, Beethoven switches to E-flat minor for Variation 4 for cello and violin with the piano providing both pulse and harmony.
At 5:57, Variation 5 has the piano playing around the theme while the violin and cello work their own way around it.
At 7:10, he writes a coda that lays the theme to rest gently.

Beethoven: Piano Trio in C minor, Op. 1/3 (second movement)