Ferdinand Ries (1784-1838) during his lifetime and for much of the 19 century was remembered as a fine composer and virtuoso pianist. He showed musical promise from an early age, studying both violin and piano with his father, and the cello with Bernhard Romberg. In 1801, he went to Vienna to study piano and composition with Beethoven and stayed with him for nearly 5 years. Thereafter, Ries concertized throughout Europe for a number of years before settling in London and then finally retiring to Godesburg near Frankfurt. He wrote a considerable amount of music including several piano concertos and a large quantity of chamber music including some twenty six string quartets, of which only nine were published in his lifetime, five string quintets, at least four piano trios, two piano quartets, a piano quintet and numerous other works. At least half of his chamber music works were never published and exist only as manuscripts at various libraries. Among these are two string trios to which his cataloger Cedric Hill assigned the numbers WoO70 1 and 2. The manuscripts to the trios can be found in the Berlin State Library and also online.
The manuscripts to the two string trios are undated. However, most Ries scholars seem to think they were composed in Vienna during the time Ries was studying with Beethoven and Albrechtsberger. The style of the work compared with those written much later has led to this conclusion. Trio No.1 in E flat Major is a fairly substantial work in four movements, a bustling Allegro moderato, a typically Viennese classical Menuetto allegro with two trios, something his teacher Albrechtsberger often favored, a lyrical but also restless Adagio cantabile and a Haydnesque Allegro.
