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Piano Trio

The piano trio, both the genre and the instrumentation that plays it (piano, violin, and cello), serves as a bridge from the Baroque to the Classical eras. Piano trios grew out of the Baroque sonatas—solo instrument(s), harpsichord and cello (or viola da gamba). In the early classical era, the piano trio was noted primarily for its entertainment role, popular for the soirées of the nobility, and many such works were written for the enjoyment of amateur musicians. Most often these pieces were essentially piano works with violin providing singing melodic lines and the cello reinforcing the bass line—useful device as pianos of the time had very weak bass registers. While certainly of superior musical quality to many of the piano trios of the time, those of Haydn and Mozart by and large followed in this vein. It was with Beethoven's works in this genre that the piano trio was established as a serious musical endeavor on several fronts. Two of these are that chamber music with piano was given a formal structure on a par with symphonic works and that each member of the trio was assigned equal importance in the ensemble.

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Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
Piano Trio No. 2 in G Major, op. 1

Adagio
Allegro vivace
Largo con espressione
Scherzo ~ allegro
Finale ~ presto

The piano trio, both the genre and the instrumentation that plays it (piano, violin, and cello), serves as a bridge from the Baroque to the Classical eras. Piano trios grew out of the Baroque sonatas—solo instrument(s), harpsichord and cello (or viola da gamba). In the early classical era, the piano trio was noted primarily for its entertainment role, popular for the soirées of the nobility, and many such works were written for the enjoyment of amateur musicians. Most often these pieces were essentially piano works with violin providing singing melodic lines and the cello reinforcing the bass line—useful device as pianos of the time had very weak bass registers. While certainly of superior musical quality to many of the piano trios of the time, those of Haydn and Mozart by and large followed in this vein. It was with Beethoven’s works in this genre that the piano trio was established as a serious musical endeavor on several fronts. Two of these are that chamber music with piano was given a formal structure on a par with symphonic works and that each member of the trio was assigned equal importance in the ensemble.

In 1792, the 22-year old Beethoven took a leave of absence from his court orchestral duties in Bonn to travel to Vienna to study with Haydn. The young Beethoven’s considerable connections with nobility meant that the drawing rooms of Vienna were available for him to establish himself as a virtuoso pianist and chamber musician. He brought with him a number of unfinished compositions, and continued to polish these as well as develop new ideas while he studied with Haydn and others. It was in the music room of the palace of the composer’s generous benefactor, Prince Karl Lichnowsky that the three trios of Opus 1 were first heard in the fall of 1792, apparently in the presence of Haydn. While Haydn advised his student to withhold the third of this group from publication as he felt the Viennese public might not understand it, Beethoven nonetheless put the three trios through numerous performances and revisions until they were ready for publication by the leading Austrian firm of Artaria. This Opus served as his compositional debut. Prince Lichnowsky’s support, in recruiting his aristocratic friends to subscribe to the original edition and in paying for the initial engraving, earned him the honor of the dedication of the opus.

Piano Trio in G Major, Op. 1, No. 2 begins with a grand slow introduction, like an improvisatory recitative leading into the lighthearted main theme. The moving, lyrical second movement, Largo con espressione, illustrates Beethoven’s propensity for harmonic adventure in the choice of the remote key of E. The cello introduces the scherzo movement with its folk-like trio. The violin leads off the merry chase of the Finale.

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Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
Piano Trio No. 1 in B Major, op. 8

Allegro con brio
Scherzo ~ allegro molto
Trio ~ meno allegro
Adagio
Finale ~ Allegro

While all the compositions heard this on this concert had their genesis in the minds of their young (late teens, early twenties—the concert also included Piano Trio by Michael Brown, b. 1987) composers, the Piano Trio in B Major, Op. 8 may be considered a sort of dialog between and young Brahms and the mature Brahms. In fact the piece can be designated the composer’s first and last chamber work in this genre. There is little doubt that the 20-year-old Brahms brought the beginnings of this work with him in 1854 when he came to the aid of the Schumanns in Düssledorf. Indeed it was during this time of great anguish over his friend and mentor Robert’s deteriorating mental condition that the piece was finished and tried out in the Schumann home. Making music together during those dark days helped to ease the pain of losing one so dear to both Brahms and Clara Schumann. Although Clara had some misgivings about the young composer’s piece, she recommended the work to the Schumann publisher, Breitkopf & Härtel. They published it later that year as Opus 8. Thirty-five years later the publisher Simrock, who was now Brahms’ principal publisher, bought the rights to his early works from Breitkopf and gave the composer the opportunity to revise any of them. Brahms chose to not only revise, but totally rework this early work of youthful passion and beauty, and also bring to it the experience of his mature compositional style. He undertook the revision during his 1889 summer holiday at the Austrian resort town of Bad Ischl, writing Clara, “You would never guess what childish amusement I have used to while away the gorgeous summer days. I have rewritten my B major Trio and can now call it Opus 108 instead of Opus 8. It will not be as wild as it was, but whether or not it will be better–?” The composer planned to keep both versions available, and some of his friends did prefer the youthful version. In the end the later version kept Opus 8 and the first version has slipped into near oblivion, rarely performed.

The broad, lyrical opening theme of the first movement was one element that remained constant in both versions. The piano launches it, the cello takes it up, and the violin makes it airborne. The con brio winds down to a tranquillo coda but recaptures con brio for the final bars. The unusual key relationship of the movements of this work (B Major, b minor, B Major, b minor) takes us to the b minor Scherzo, a piece reminiscent of Mendelssohn’s fairyworld. Delicate string passages, leggiero writing for the piano often in the upper register, is contrasted by the waltz-like trio section. In the revision, this succinct movement was left largely intact save the coda, which effectively dissipates into individual elements. The piano introduces the melancholy, austere Adagio with a hymn-like theme, the strings answering in dialogue until the cello meshes with the piano to carry this lovely movement along back to the movement’s hymn-like conclusion. The unconventional use of the minor key to conclude this major-key work adds to the restlessness of the final movement. Replete with triplets in the piano, hemiolas and other Brahms-ian rhythmic gestures, the piece is brought to a stormy conclusion.

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