Wilhelm Berger - String Trio, Op. 69 (1898)

Wilhelm Reinhard Berger (9 August 1861 - 16 January 1911) was a German composer, pianist and conductor.
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String Trio in G minor, Op. 69 (1898)
Dedication: Ferdinand Schleicher
1. Lebhaft (0:00)
2. Etwas belebt (7:04)
3. Sehr lebhaft (13:22)
4. Langsam - Lebhaft (17:55)
Dresdener Streichtrio
Details by Edition Silvertrust:
"Wilhelm Berger's Op.69 String Trio is in every respect a masterpiece. Although Berger was a pianist and not a string player, his writing for string instruments in this trio, as in his string quintet, is superb. The first movement, Lebhaft (lively), begins with a lovely Idyll. The main theme is warm and charming. The second movement, Etwas belebt (somewhat lively), is a set of variations on a march-like theme. The fugual variation in the minor is particularly fine. The magnificent Scherzo, Sehr lebhaft (very lively) which follows has the quality of a tarantella. The finale has a long, slow introduction, while the main section combines a sense of charming naiveté with the spirit of a humorous prankster."---Wilhelm Altmann writing in his Handbook for Chamber Music Players.
Wilhelm Berger (1861-1911) was born in Boston but returned to Germany with his family within a year of his birth. He grew up in Bremen where he received his first lessons in voice and piano. A scholarship allowed him to study with the famous composition teacher Friedrich Kiel in Berlin at the Hochschule für Musik. After graduating, he held a number of teaching positions, including that of Professor of Composition at the Royal Academy. He also served as director of the famous Meiningen Court Orchestra. Berger, though his compositions had won many prizes and were often performed, did not quickly achieve the fame he deserved.
Highly respected by the cognoscenti, he never self-promoted or advertised himself with the wider musical public as did several others. Fame finally did start to come, but just at the moment of his death, at which time he was starting to be regarded, along with Max Reger, as Germany's most important successor to Brahms. Unfortunately, the First World War and its aftermath, led to a total lack of interest for many decades of nearly all romantic composers, and the reputation of those who were less well-known such as Berger, never really recovered.

[@gregmonks]

String trios can sound as full as quartets. Three is really all you need. It's more work for the players, but the details really stand out.

[@fransmeersman2334]

Wilhelm Berger's chamber music is really very impressive, pure enjoyment to listen again and again to this masterful string trio, and it must be mentioned with that magnificent performance of the Dresdener Streichtrio.

[@bensilverman9105]

This is so much better than so much music that gets played 1,000 times more often, that you hardly know what to say. A lost great composer, or very close to it.

[@dailylife2604]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/eICUfIqge5ige8k take a look

[@richardyu3591]

very much agreed. I hope this composer gets rediscovered more in the coming years...

[@TimothyZhou0]

those treble viola solos in the last movement are so incredibly beautiful!

[@FreakieFan]

The third movement fugue is nuts

[@ronaldbwoodall2628]

I can only assume that is a compliment!

[@FreakieFan]

@@ronaldbwoodall2628 Yes, absolutely!

[@gavincannon8385]

I really appreciate the technical difficulties associated with writing a trio. Especially an amazing one as such! Bravo's all around!

[@alexandertall7086]

What a piece... So glad to have stumbled across this!

[@mmbmbmbmb]

I was captivated throughout by this significant composition and performance. Thank you!

[@engloute]

Great stuff!

[@rogertraylor7288]

Wonderful music!

[@gerardbegni2806]

R Thanks to Bartje Bartmans, I am discovering this composer, xhom I sis not know at all. His music is quite roborative and has a flavour of its own within a typical Brahmsian tradition. Discovering cannot be considered as a revolution, of course, but we can har ome very interesting scores within this poorly known germen post-brahmsian tradition. Schoenberg himself began with an original mised Wae gner+Brahms tradition - the latter being quite important for him. In addition, it is important to underline that it is quite difficult to write a well balanced string trio. Neither Schumann nor Brahms dared to write one. The trios by Beethoven are not by far his best works,; actually they were among his very first published works. The only masterpiece

[@sbareg]

Very good comment! I will just add Max Reger's string trios too, musical jewels worth listening more than once ^^

[@yuehchopin]

schöne Sendung

[@nathan2026]

holy shit shame on me that I didnt know this piece

[@nocturnallsnake4228]

Now we do

[@boundaryconditions1119]

This feels to me like he is carrying the mantle of Schubert, rather than just Brahms, into the 20th century.

[@michaelperrett8573]

I think so yes, but Brahms was a Schubert obsessive too. A passing of the baton.

[@Lee30000]

I enjoy listening. HOWEVER, it appears that at measures 4,5, and 6, the first violin is playing different notes than the sheet music. It's still lovely but when you're following the part, that really jumps out of you.

[@apolace7242]

It’s not that serious. It’s probably a result of a different edition.

[@GUILLOM]

Nice

[@davidcheater4239]

I really like the viola.

[@eppiehemsley6556]

It's a beautiful instrument & so unappreciated and for that reason unpopular. A pity.

[@ronaldbwoodall2628]

This light-hearted, congenial, totally delightful and engaging Trio is perhaps the work I would choose to introduce someone to the music of this composer, one who is worthy of much greater recognition and renown. (The final movement may well have given the Trio the title "Surprise Trio", as a certain Haydn Symphony.)

[@notaire2]

Wunderschöne und literarisch lebhafte Interpretation dieses spätromantischen und einzigartig konstruierten Trios im gut analysierten Tempo mit seidigem Ton der Violine, mildem Ton der Bratsche und tiefem Ton des Violoncellos. Wahrlich intelligente und geniale Virtuosen!

[@L1102]

Hallo notaire2, mich würde interessieren, was deine Mission ist. Du formulierst unter fast jedem Video eine Musikkritik, die eigentlich immer genau das gleiche aussagt, nur anders formuliert. Was ist das Ziel? Nicht böse gemeint, sondern ernsthaftes Interesse. Liebe Grüße

[@johannesmohl3324]

@@L1102 Das frage ich mich auch schon lange :-) Auch ich meine es nicht böse, wenn ich sage, dass ich hier doch ein bisserl den Verdacht hege, es könnte sich um einen Testlauf eines Machine Learning/KI-Algos handeln. Aber was auch immer man notaire2 vorwerfen kann (so z.B. den schwer übermäßigen Gebrauch des Attributs "fein" - hier fehlt es ausnahmsweise einmal), they sind wenigstens nett und voller Lob, nie spöttisch oder trollhaft runtermachend. Von daher: more power to you, notaire2 - auch wenn Du etwas merkwürdig sein magst!

[@hjo4104]

Lebhaft from the last movement Beethoven influence

[@vsafe_]

🥰

[@kh23797]

Thanks for this. I can't make the score at bar 4 agree with what my ears are hearing... or is it me?