Beethoven’s ‘Archduke’ Trio continues to play on in modern pop culture

Widely considered to be the greatest piano trio ever written, Beethoven’s Archduke Trio represents “a defining, transformational moment in the history of Western music.” The all-star trio of violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter, pianist Yefim Bronfman and cellist Pablo Ferrández will perform the work in an SCP Chamber Music concert on May 7.

Not surprisingly, given its significance, the trio has turned up in several pop-culture treatments over the last few decades, including:

Nora Webster:  In the novel Nora Webster (2014) by Col Tóibín, a recording of the Archduke Trio figures prominently in the title character’s musical development, and also serves as a symbol of how an internal examination of her life might have turned out differently.

Kafka on the Shore:  In Haruki Murakami’s novel Kafka on the Shore (2002), the trio and its history help to explain the relationship between the book’s two main characters, Nakata and Hoshino, and the latter’s personal development.

A Traitor to Memory: The trio, referred to just as The Archduke, plays a significant role in Elizabeth George’s mystery A Traitor to Memory (2001).

"The Man Who Wasn’t There": In the Coen Brothers’ film "The Man Who Wasn’t There" (2001), the work’s melancholy third movement is heard in the final scene, which depicts an execution in the electric chair.

"The Man Who Wasn’t There" also serves as a vehicle for some of Beethoven’s best-known piano compositions, with these works on the soundtrack: Piano Sonata No. 8 in C Minor, Op. 13 (Pathetique); Piano Sonata No. 15 in D Major, Op. 28 (Pastoral); Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp Minor, Op. 27, No. 2 (Moonlight), and Piano Sonata No. 23 in F Minor, Op. 57 (Appassionata).