Chamber music: Beethoven, Beach, Stenhammar

Beethoven composed two trios for piano, violin and cello to show his appreciation following a stay at Countess Anna Maria von Erdödy’s estate north of Vienna in 1808. Piano Trio in E Flat Major is the earliest example of a work in which Beethoven composed the four movements in three different keys, a pattern he later repeated in String Quartet in E Flat Major, known as the Harp. Amy Beach, an accomplished pianist and self-taught composer, wrote her Romance for Violin and Piano relatively early in her career. She dedicated it to the renowned American violinist Maud Power, with whom she appeared at the first performance of the piece in 1893. Another prominent pianist is Wilhelm Stenhammar, who kept returning to chamber music. His delightful Allegro ma non tanto was composed in 1895.