Piano Trios
by Ludwig van Beethoven
Beethoven in 1801, portrait by Carl Traugott Riedel
Key	E-flat major G major C minor
Opus	1/1–3
Dedication	Prince Lichnowsky
Performed	1795 (1795): Vienna

Ludwig van Beethoven's Opus 1 is a set of three piano trios (written for piano, violin, and cello), first performed in 1795 in the house of Prince Lichnowsky, to whom they are dedicated.^[1] The trios were published in 1795.

Despite the Op. 1 designation, these trios were not Beethoven's first published compositions;^[2] this distinction belongs rather to his Dressler Variations for keyboard (WoO 63). Clearly he recognized the Op. 1 compositions as the earliest ones he had produced that were substantial enough (and marketable enough) to fill out a first major publication to introduce his style of writing to the musical public.

Op. 1 No. 1 - Piano Trio No. 1 in E-flat major

• Allegro (E-flat major), ⁴
  ₄
• Adagio cantabile (A-flat major), ³
  ₄
• Scherzo. Allegro assai (E-flat major, with trio in A-flat major), ³
  ₄
• Finale. Presto (E-flat major), ²
  ₄

The first movement opens with an ascending arpeggiated figure (a so-called Mannheim Rocket, like that opening the first movement of the composer's own Piano Sonata no 1, Opus 2 no 1),^[3]

Op. 1 No. 2 - Piano Trio No. 2 in G major

• Adagio, ³
  ₄ - Allegro vivace, ²
  ₄ (G major)
• Largo con espressione (E major), ⁶
  ₈
• Scherzo. Allegro (G major, with a trio in B minor), ³
  ₄
• Finale. Presto (G major), ²
  ₄

Op. 1 No. 3 - Piano Trio No. 3 in C minor

• Allegro con brio (C minor), ³
  ₄
• Andante cantabile con Variazioni (E-flat major), ²
  ₄
• Minuetto. Quasi allegro (C minor, with a trio in C major), ³
  ₄
• Finale. Prestissimo (C minor, concluding in C major), ²
  ₂

Unlike the other piano trios in this opus, the third trio does not have a scherzo as its third movement but a minuet instead.

This third piano trio was later reworked by Beethoven into the C minor string quintet, Op. 104.^[4]