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PROGRAM NOTES —continued Irom page VIII the medieval Latin Gaudeamus Igitur (“Let Us Therefore Rejoice,” or, more idiomatically, “Let’s Have Fun!”). The Overture is scored for piccolo and two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons and contrabassoon, fourhorns, three trumpets, three trom- bones and tuba, timpani, bass drum, cymbals, triangle and strings. LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN (Born December 16, 1770, in Bonn; died March 26, 1827, in Vienna) Concerto for Piano, Violln, Cello and Orchestra, In C Major, Op. 56 We have very little knowledge of the early history of the Triple Con certo. Beethoven sketched it in 1803 or 1804, and it may have been per- formed at the end of 1805 or some- time during 1806. The first known public performance took place in Vienna in May, 1808, and it may never have been heard again in the com- poser’s lifetime. It is sometimes thought that Beethoven intended it for his twenty-year-old pupil, the Archduke Rudolph, butthe published score is dedicated to another of his patrons, Prince Lobkowitz. The Arch duke may have been the pianist in the work's premiöre, but there is no record of who the three soloists were. In August, 1804, Beethoven wrote to the publisher Breitkopf & Härtel, offering “my oratorio; a new Grand Symphony; a Concertante with violin, Violoncello, and pianoforte with full orchestra, [and] three new solo sonatas.” The oratorio was Christ on the Mount of Olives; the “new Grand Symphony,” which he thought "will interest the musical public,” was the Eroica, and the “Concertante” was the Triple Concerto. Beethoven offered to seil all these works for two thousand f lorins — probably less than one thousand dollars. The publisher made the mistake of refusing the instrumental compositions and taking the oratorio, which is not one of Beethoven’s successful works. Concertos for more than one solo instrument are relatively rare. We meet variants of them in the concerto grosso of the time of Vivaldi, Corelli, Handel and Bach, and in the sinfonia concertante of the Mozart-and-Haydn period, but the only multiple Concer tos that have endured are Mozart’s for two pianos and for flute and harp, this Triple Concerto and the Double Con- certo for Violin and Cello by Brahms. In writing the Triple Con certo, Beethoven was not really looking backward to the Baroque concerto grosso, but was looking ahead to his later Piano Concertos in G Major and E-flat Major, Nos. 4 and 5, and his Violin Concerto. In many ways, this Triple Concerto may be regarded as a study for those weightier compositions. In working out the special Prob lems of the concerto form in this score, Beethoven had to expand the normal formal plan. Ordinarily a single soloist exchanges ideas with the orchestra. In the Triple Concerto, three soloists must begiven theirsay, and as a result, the opening move ment, Allegro, is longer than usual. The second movement, Largo, leads directly into the finale, marking the initiation of a procedure Beethoven was to use in all three of his remaining concertos. This third movement is a Rondo alla Polacca, a polonaise in rondo form. Beethoven’s requirements for the accompanying orchestra are a flute, pairs of oboes, clarinets, bassoons, horns, trumpets, timpani and strings.
