String Trio No. 1 in E-Flat Major, Op. 3
Serenade in D Major, Op. 8
String Trio No. 3 in G Major, Op. 9/1
String Trio No. 4 in D Major, Op. 9/2/ String Trio No. 5 in C Minor, Op. 9/3

?Following the successful release of String Trios by Cras, Reger, Dohnányi and Kodály (aud. 97.534), the Jacques Thibaud String Trio are now turning towards a Classical composer, with a new audite complete recording of the Beethoven String Trios.

It is not always clear why certain genres make it into the pantheon of musical history, whilst others remain "insiders' tips". The string quartet undoubtedly belongs to the former category, whilst the string trio - despite brilliant works such as Mozart's Divertimento K563 or the Beethoven String Trios - forms part of the latter. The trio formation consisting of a violin, viola and cello is generally deemed to produce a thin sound and to have been neglected by composers. With Beethoven, however, the opposite is true: for the young Beethoven, the trio was a touchstone of his mastery of this form "without piano", in which he found himself as a composer.

He left five trios in all, in Opp. 3 and 8 turning towards the traditions of the divertimento and the serenade, whilst producing new and sophisticated reinterpretations of these forms. His Trios Op. 9, written in 1796-98, became his calling card as a composer for string instruments. All the characteristics of the mature Beethoven can be found here: astonishing sonorities; a sense of the character and personalities of the three instruments; using few, concise themes; drama and sensuousness.