LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN

Clarinet Trios B flat major op. 11 and E flat major op. 38 for Piano, Clarinet (Violin) and Violoncello

Günter Raphael (Editor)

Friedhelm Klugmann (Editor)

Walther Lampe (Fingering)

Hans-Martin Theopold (Fingering)

Urtext Edition, paperbound

Pages 116 (IV+68+14+15+15), Size 23,5 x 31,0 cm

HN 342 · ISMN 979-0-2018-0342-5

Beethoven composed his Clarinet Trios op. 11 and 38 in 1798 and 1802/03. The op. 11 was given the nickname “Gassenhauer Trio” because its third movement is a set of variations on a theme from Joseph Weigl’s opera L’amor marinaro (“Gassenhauer” means a “popular song”). Playing with many possibilities in these nine variations, Beethoven sometimes lets the piano appear alone, and sometimes has it rest. In places the mood is that of a sort of funeral march, and there are harmonic and rhythmic surprises throughout.

The op. 38 “Grand Trio”, the later of the two, was a reworking by Beethoven himself of his op. 20 Septet. He provided – as also in the case of op. 11 – an alternative violin part, in order to give the work broader distribution and thus greater popularity. The violin parts are likewise included with our Urtext edition, which – just as back then- makes it doubly valuable.