~ Roy Orbison ~
Oh, Pretty Woman (1982)
~ Van Halen ~
Oh, Pretty Woman (1989)
~ Ricky Van Shelton ~
In 1798, when Beethoven was 27, he published a set of three trios for violin, viola and cello marked Opus 9. He would have liked to write string quartets, but Haydn, who had invented that genre, was still writing quartets, and they were among his best. There wasn’t much in the string trio repertory, so that made it easier for Lou.
Just as his Opus 1 trios for piano, violin and cello had two sensible works plus one radical work in C minor, Beethoven wrote two sensible trios plus one radical trio in C minor. This is the second of the two sensible trios.
It starts sweetly, marked “allegro”, with sensible music for sensible people. At :58 the second subject appears in A Major. At 1:50, development begins in the minor but turns to the major in a back-and-forth method. At 3:13 he re-composes his recapitulation. At 4:08, the second subject recaps in the correct key of D Major. The coda is based on the material that was used to transition between the first and second subjects.
The second movement, marked “andante quasi allegretto”, is in D minor. This isn’t a Beethoven conversation with God – Lou hasn’t progressed that far yet – but the sense is of both sadness and contemplation.
The third movement is a minuet marked simply “allegro” in D Major.
The finale is a rondo in D Major also marked simply “allegro”, and you’ll be hearing that first theme a lot. He wraps it up in style.
Tomorrow night it’s another string trio.