13.05 Performance, followed by
14.30 Lecture-Workshop and Masterclass

Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia – Grand Trio Op. 10
Ludwig van Beethoven Piano Trio in C minor Op. 1 no. 3

Beethoven met Louis Ferdinand in 1796 and said of the Prince that he “doesn’t play like a prince at all, but like a proficient piano player”. Indeed, Louis Ferdinand’s own compositions testify to his serious musicianship and imagination. The Piano Trio, entitled “Grand Trio” in E-flat is remarkably forward-looking and accomplished, especially considering his profession as a politician and military man, and the fact that he lived only to the age of 33. An almost exact contemporary to Beethoven, the Prince of Prussia’s musical language shows more affinity to the more “progressive” English/French keyboard writing, at times sounding almost like Schubert or Mendelssohn. In this programme, we pair together the two “Ludwigs”, with the hope that their differences and similarities will shed light on the rich musical culture around the year 1800 in Europe.