Right after its first performance, the Trio in B flat major dedicated to Archduke Rudolf received the public acclaim of being the greatest composition ever in its genre. Jozefin Brunszvik, the first person to hear it at a private performance, wrote in a letter: “The immortal Beethoven visited me and performed his new trio that cannot be compared to anything in the world.” Beethoven himself referred to it in his correspondence as “the great B flat major” and in England it was given the subtitle, “Emperor”. This can only in part be explained with the symphonic proportions of the trio. The musical material expounded in this work as well as its spiritual, theoretical weight stand comparison with the great late works in B flat major, including the Hammerklavier sonata or the String quartet in B flat major (op. 130). The hymn of thanksgiving in the variational third movement brings to mind similar movements in the Piano sonata in E major (op. 109) and the last piano sonata (in C minor, op. 111). Despite a decline of his hearing, Beethoven was pleased to take part in the performance of the Trio in B flat major. He sat at the piano at the 1814 public première and at the “morning concert in the Prater” a few months later. The public felt on both occasions that the composer was no longer in full control of his instrument. This fact must have been accepted by Beethoven himself, for the performance of the Trio in B flat major marked his last public appearance as a pianist.

The Adagio was composed in 1905. “The Adagio comes from a time when I had known nothing of the Hungarian folksong; therefore this might give some indication of how I would have composed later had I not begun my visits to the countryside. This is a rather clear, fluent and internationally understandable, easily accessible style. Had I continued along that line, it would have been easier and faster for me to attain success.” The Intermezzo for string trio is from the same year.

The Duo was composed by Kod�ly (1882-1967) in 1914. It was first performed by Jen� Kerpely and Imre Waldbauer in 1918. This is how Waldbauer characterised the composition: “With Kod�ly, the relationship between the two instruments is based on a full equality of rights, one complements the other perfectly, and everything serves the same basic principle, namely, the attainment of an ideal tone and form in an ensemble consisting of two contrasting, yet parallel elements. In this work Kod�ly’s heroic voice probably makes itself heard more firmly than in any other of his chamber pieces.” In 1914, before the outbreak of the war, Kod�ly spent a holiday in Switzerland. He had to return home from one day to the other when the war broke out. That is when the basic idea of his Duo was born. As he recalls, “(…) we had to say good-bye to the sight of those giant hills, because the hotels were closed down. With the Swiss also mobilizing, we had to make the last miles by travelling in a lorry that took us to the Swiss border. We were lingering for days in a frontier village in Tyrol. And that is when the vision of the duo suddenly appeared. I had never before thought of writing for such a combination. (…) It remains to be seen whether others will find in it any trace of the indescribable vastness of the giant hills or of the dim foreboding of the suddenly outbreak of war.”