| This study investigates the genesis, sources, and historical context of Beethoven's Concerto in C major for Piano, Violin, Violoncello, and Orchestra, Op. 56 ("Triple Concerto"). I emphasize the work's genre, early performances, and contemporary performance practices, and show how it fits into early 19th century Viennese concert life. In addition, I discuss sketch materials and available manuscript sources for the concerto and am able to trace the development of a significant portion of the concerto, from its initial sketches to its final, published version.;Chapter 1 concerns the genre and context of Op. 56, comparing it to contemporary symphonies concertantes and multiple concertos, the function of such works in Viennese musical life during the late 18th and early 19th centuries, solo instruments employed in such works, and musical influences on Beethoven's concerto, such as the operas of Mozart. Chapter 2 discusses the performance history of Op. 56, including early performers of the work and its critical reception, as well as its ties to cellists Anton and Nikolaus Kraft and to developments in violoncello technique during the early 19th century. Chapter 3 describes surviving textual sources for the work, including sketches, manuscripts, and early published editions. Chapter 4 analyzes extant source materials in an attempt to reconstruct the work's compositional chronology. Appendices 1 and 2 include transcriptions of the work's sketches, from the Landsberg 6 and Mendelssohn 15 sketchbooks.;Close analysis and study of the surviving sources reveals a new compositional chronology for the work. Although a number of questions surrounding the Triple Concerto's genesis will probably remain unknown because of missing materials, its extant sources, context, and contemporary performance history indicate that with this work, Beethoven was reaching out to a wider musical audience, while at the same time exploiting contemporary advances in cello technique. In the end, the difficulty of the cello part worked against the work's wider exposure. |
