Classical Music | Music for Trio

Recorded on 12/18/2013, uploaded on 07/02/2014

Musician's or Publisher's Notes

After the original Op. 8, Brahms did not approach the piano-trio medium again until 1880, when he started two at once. One, in E-flat, we know about only from references in his letters; the other, in C Major, was completed in 1882 and published as his Op. 87. During all the years since 1853, Brahms had continued his association with the Schumann family, becoming a good friend of Clara Schumann, whom he consulted on numerous artistic matters.  When Clara — one of the greatest pianists and teachers of the 19th century — first heard the C Major Trio, she declared it “a glorious work… playing it is a musical treat."

The opening "Allegro" movement gives the initial theme to the string players; the second is introduced by the piano, to pizzicato accompaniment. The "Andante con moto" modulates to the relative A Minor; it is a set of five variations on a theme Brahms derived from one of his favorite folk-music sources, Hungarian gypsy music. The third movement divides its key areas between C Major and C Minor; its mood is mostly subdued, even eerie, and it ends very softly. The Finale — noticeably shorter than the first and second movements — is marked "Allegro giocoso," joking, although its mood is not entirely one of good cheer; some echoes remain from the ghostly Scherzo, and soft dynamics are often demanded, until the final resolution sets out in an assertive coda.     Program notes by Andrea Lamoreaux

Courtesy of International Music Foundation.