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It's Forgotten Masterpiece Friday!
Rudolph Johann Joseph Rainier, Archduke of Austria (1788-1831) is known today as the prince to whom Beethoven dedicated his “Archduke” Piano Trio. He was one of Beethoven's main patrons. In 1809, when Beethoven was contemplating leaving Vienna for a royal court position elsewhere, Rudolph, along with Prince Joseph von Lobkowitz and Count Ferdinand Kinsky, offered Beethoven an annual stipend to remain in Vienna for the rest of his life. After Kinsky died and Lobkowitz went bankrupt, Rudolph paid their shares of Beethoven's stipend until Beethoven's death.
Rudolph was also a very competent pianist and composer. He had epilepsy and suffered from poor health for most of his life, so eschewed the military career that was traditional for young noblemen and instead opted for a less strenuous career in the church that also gave him time to dedicate to music. Rudolph gave the first performance of Beethoven's “Emperor” Piano Concerto in a private concert at the Lobkowitz palace months before the public premiere. Though Beethoven had many piano students, Rudolph was Beethoven's only composition student. Because it was considered unseemly at the time for a member of the royal family to profit from his musical compositions, he had his music published either anonymously or under the name “S.R.D.” The abbreviation stood for “Serenissimus Rudolfus Dux” but could easily be assumed to be a composer's initials. Several of his works were performed with some frequency during his life, but only connected with him many years after their composition. Other pieces were never published and probably never performed publicly, though some of them may have had private performances. Many of the unpublished pieces are chamber works featuring the clarinet, likely because Rudolph's chamberlain Ferdinand de Troyer was a conservatory-trained clarinetist.
Rudolph's Clarinet Trio (for clarinet, cello, and piano) is one of these unpublished pieces. It was most likely composed in 1813, and only first published in 1969 after the discovery of a manuscript score in the Moravian Museum in Brno. It may not ever have been completed. The manuscript had four movements: Allegro moderato, Larghetto, Scherzo, and Rondo. But only a few measures of the Rondo appeared in the score; it is uncertain whether the Rondo was left unfinished, discarded entirely, or completed and lost. The modern editors chose to reverse the order of the last two surviving movements and end the piece with a slow movement rather than a scherzo. Thus, although it appears likely that Rudolph was influenced by Beethoven's “Gassenhauer” Trio for the same set of instruments, the fact that both pieces are three-movement works ending with a theme and variations is entirely the result of a 20th century editorial decision.
Movements:
I. Allegro moderato
II. Scherzo: Allegretto (8:57)
III. Larghetto (13:49)
Rudolph Johann Joseph Rainier, Archduke of Austria (1788-1831) is known today as the prince to whom Beethoven dedicated his “Archduke” Piano Trio. He was one of Beethoven's main patrons. In 1809, when Beethoven was contemplating leaving Vienna for a royal court position elsewhere, Rudolph, along with Prince Joseph von Lobkowitz and Count Ferdinand Kinsky, offered Beethoven an annual stipend to remain in Vienna for the rest of his life. After Kinsky died and Lobkowitz went bankrupt, Rudolph paid their shares of Beethoven's stipend until Beethoven's death.
Rudolph was also a very competent pianist and composer. He had epilepsy and suffered from poor health for most of his life, so eschewed the military career that was traditional for young noblemen and instead opted for a less strenuous career in the church that also gave him time to dedicate to music. Rudolph gave the first performance of Beethoven's “Emperor” Piano Concerto in a private concert at the Lobkowitz palace months before the public premiere. Though Beethoven had many piano students, Rudolph was Beethoven's only composition student. Because it was considered unseemly at the time for a member of the royal family to profit from his musical compositions, he had his music published either anonymously or under the name “S.R.D.” The abbreviation stood for “Serenissimus Rudolfus Dux” but could easily be assumed to be a composer's initials. Several of his works were performed with some frequency during his life, but only connected with him many years after their composition. Other pieces were never published and probably never performed publicly, though some of them may have had private performances. Many of the unpublished pieces are chamber works featuring the clarinet, likely because Rudolph's chamberlain Ferdinand de Troyer was a conservatory-trained clarinetist.
Rudolph's Clarinet Trio (for clarinet, cello, and piano) is one of these unpublished pieces. It was most likely composed in 1813, and only first published in 1969 after the discovery of a manuscript score in the Moravian Museum in Brno. It may not ever have been completed. The manuscript had four movements: Allegro moderato, Larghetto, Scherzo, and Rondo. But only a few measures of the Rondo appeared in the score; it is uncertain whether the Rondo was left unfinished, discarded entirely, or completed and lost. The modern editors chose to reverse the order of the last two surviving movements and end the piece with a slow movement rather than a scherzo. Thus, although it appears likely that Rudolph was influenced by Beethoven's “Gassenhauer” Trio for the same set of instruments, the fact that both pieces are three-movement works ending with a theme and variations is entirely the result of a 20th century editorial decision.
Movements:
I. Allegro moderato
II. Scherzo: Allegretto (8:57)
III. Larghetto (13:49)