The Van Baerle Trio continue their foray into the works of Beethoven with three exuberant trios dating from Beethoven’s youth: op.1 no.2, op.36 and Hess 48.

Chamber music arrangements of symphonies were very common in the late 18th and early 19th century. The Second Symphony is the only one for which Beethoven himself produced an arrangement, although there is evidence that his student Ferdinand Ries did the bulk of the work, with Beethoven adding the finishing touches.

Of the three piano trios published under op.1, the second announces its pretentions to the symphonic genre earlier than its siblings and has several common points with the Second Symphony that was written ten years later.

The Allegretto in E flat, Hess 48, was probably one of the first works for piano trio that Beethoven wrote, dating back to the early 1790s. Its form is a short, but humorous conversation between three different instruments.

The recordings of Beethoven’s complete piano trios follow the Van Baerle Trio’s album dedicated to Mendelssohn’s piano trios (CC72662), which includes the world premiere recording of the early version of his Piano Trio in D minor. The Van Baerle Trio’s debut CD, featuring works by Saint-Saëns, Loevendie and Ravel, received an Edison Award in 2013.


“The overwhelming quality of this new disc is a quite irresistible freshness. Young man’s music, played with an inquisitive spirit, a spring-like clarity and a daredevil verve.” – Gramophone on Vol.1 (CC72765)