Beethoven’s piano trio in c minor is without question one of the most famous works for its genre. Beethoven himself labeled three of his early piano trios as his opus 1 despite having composed several works before – a clear sign of him holding these works in high regard. In 4 movements the work gives a perfect example of Beethoven’s oeuvre: a very serious first movement, the Adagio consisting of very contrasting and expressive variations, the Menuet evolving into an almost romantic Scherzo and the Finale with boundless energy and drive.

In his work PULSAR, New York resident and Swiss composer Daniel Schnyder uses the piano trio at first appearance almost as a jazz combo. The ‘symphony for piano trio’ catches the listener’s attention with groovy rhythms, a wide harmonic range and sentimental passages. That allows every instrument to show its characteristics but also be found in an unusual roles.

The Davidoff Trio invites the audience to face two very contrasting piece as a perfect example of Diversity in Unity: obviously there is no direct link between Schnyder and Beethoven, yet they used the exact same setup to express their musical ideas. And while Beethoven was the first to use the symphonic form of four movements for a piano trio, Schnyder even named his composition symphony – maybe there are more connections within this musical cosmos? A question we want everyone to answer on his or her own.