The Piano Trio in B♭ major, Op. 97, by Ludwig van Beethoven is a piano trio completed in 1811. It is commonly referred to as the Archduke Trio, because it was dedicated to Archduke Rudolph of Austria,
Beethoven in 1815, portrait by Joseph Willibrord Mähler
Sketches for the third and fourth movements of Piano Trio, op. 97, 1810–1811, musical autograph
Leopold II was the penultimate Holy Roman Emperor, as well as King of Hungary, Croatia and Bohemia, and Archduke of Austria from 1790 to 1792, and Grand Duke of Tuscany from 1765 to 1790 as Leopold I.
Piano Trio, Op. 97 (Beethoven)
…in 1811. It is commonly referred to as the Archduke Trio, because it was dedicated to Archduke Rudolph of Austria, the youngest of twelve children of Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor. Rudolf was an amateur pianist and a patron, friend, and composition student of Beethoven. Beethoven dedicated about a dozen compositions to him. The…
Leopold II as Holy Roman Emperor c. 1790s
Young Leopold Drawing Fortifications, Jean-Étienne Liotard, 1762
Leopold (left) with his brother Emperor Joseph II, Emperor Joseph II and Grand Duke Pietro Leopoldo of Tuscany by Pompeo Batoni, 1769, Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum
Leopold as Grand Duke of Tuscany, portrait by Anton Raphael Mengs, 1770