Poster Ludwig van Beethoven
Portrait of Ludwig van Beethoven by Joseph Karl Stieler (1820)
Wikimedia Commons
Performance Today®

Beethoven's borrowed tune

The young Beethoven borrowed a song that everybody was singing in Vienna, a tune from a popular opera. Beethoven made it very much his own by writing nine playful variations. On today's show, hear an all-star performance of Beethoven's Gassenhauer Trio, from a concert in Steamboat Springs, Colorado.

Episode Playlist

Hour 1

Antonio Vivaldi: Concerto in D minor, Op 3 No. 11, RV 565: Movements 3 & 4
Daniel Hope, violin; Chamber Orchestra of Europe
Daniel Hope plays Vivaldi
DG 4777463

Michael Kurth: Sonata for English Horn and Piano
Emily Brebach, English horn; Tim Whitehead, piano
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Pre-Concert Chamber Music Series, Symphony Hall, Atlanta, GA

Antonio Vivaldi: Concerto for Oboe and Violin in B flat Major, RV 548
J A Smith, oboe; O Dalby, violin; G Nuttall & L Sohn, violins; M Bhasin, viola; J Roman, cello; D Balliett, double bass; P Muzijevic, harpsichord
Chamber Music Series at Spoleto Festival USA, Dock Street Theater, Charleston, SC

George Gershwin: Second Rhapsody
Jeffrey Siegel, piano; Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra; Leonard Slatkin, conductor
The Complete Gershwin
Vox 5007

Hour 2

Claude Debussy: Preludes, Book 2: Feux d'artifice (Fireworks)
Gilles Vonsattel, piano
Shadowlines
Honens 201501

Dmitri Shostakovich: Trio No. 1 in C Minor for Violin, Violoncello, and Piano, Op. 8
Naumburg Trio: Frank Huang, violin; David Requiro, cello; Gilles Vonsattel, piano
University of Georgia Performing Arts Center, Ramsey Concert Hall, Athens, GA

Georg Philipp Telemann: Concerto for Viola, Strings, and Continuo in G major, TWV 51:G9
Todd Phillips and Bella Hristova, violins; Pierre Lapointe, Matthew Lipman, violas; Brook Speltz, cello; Anthony Manzo, double bass; Michael Sponseller, harpsichord
Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Alice Tully Hall, New York, NY

Ludwig van Beethoven: Trio in B-flat Major for Clarinet, Cello, and Piano, Op. 11 "Gassenhauer Trio"
Mark Nuccio, clarinet; Anne Martindale Williams, cello; Wendy Chen, piano
Strings Music Festival, Strings Pavilion, Steamboat Springs, CO

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American Public Media’s Performance Today® is America’s most popular classical music radio program and a winner of the 2014 Gabriel Award for artistic achievement. The show is broadcast on hundreds of public radio stations across the country, including at 1 p.m. central weekdays on Minnesota Public Radio. More information about our stations can be found at APM Distribution.

Performance Today® features live concert recordings that can’t be heard anywhere else, highlights from new album releases, and in-studio performances and interviews. Performance Today® is based at the APM studios in St. Paul, Minnesota, but is frequently on the road, with special programs broadcast from festivals and public radio stations around the country. Also, each Wednesday, composer Bruce Adolphe joins host Fred Child for a classical musical game and listener favorite: the Piano Puzzler.

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