Piano Trio in C minor Op.66 (1845)

Mendelssohn was under severe stress when he started work on his Piano Trio in C minor. As he wrote to his sister Rebekka early in 1845, “I have been feeling such an urgent need for physical rest (for no travelling, no conducting, no performing) that I am forced to yield to it and, God willing, I mean to order my life to that purpose during the whole year.”

The composer’s state of mind at the time is clear enough from the anxious opening of the first movement, Allegro energico e con fuoco, with its restless arpeggio figuration passing between piano and strings. Lyrical contrast is offered by the elegantly shaped second subject in E flat major, though not so much on its dramatic first presentation, fortissimo and con forza by the whole ensemble, as when the piano quietly takes it up and discovers the poetry in it. The radiant reappearance of that theme in C major at an unexpectedly early stage in the recapitulation is encouraging but, in the long term, that encouragement proves to be illusory.

The two middle movements are both studies in escapism. The Andante espressivo is a reversion to the song-without-words mode cast in a cosy ternary structure with a middle section only as different from the outer section as E flat minor from E flat major. The same rhythmic lilt prevails throughout and the basic textural arrangement, with the strings in duet against a piano accompaniment, remains unchanged. In the G minor Scherzo Mendelssohn is again successful, as he was in the equivalent movement of the earlier Piano Trio in D minor, in recapturing the elfin spirit of his youth.

The most daring and original part of the work is the Finale, where the stressed composer finds his salvation. Basically a rondo with the main theme in C minor, it has two distinct episodes in major keys. In the second episode the piano introduces a chorale melody Vor deinem Thron (Before thy throne) which proves to have the authority to retain its major mode and, indeed, to convert the other themes to C major. The work ends triumphantly in that key.

Mendelssohn was under stress when he started work on his Piano Trio in C minor. As he wrote to his sister Rebekka from Frankfurt, where he was staying with his wife’s family, early in 1845, “I have been feeling such an urgent need for physical rest (for no travelling, no conducting, no performing) that I am forced to yield to it and, God willing, I mean to order my life to that purpose during the whole year.”

The composer’s state of mind at the time is clear enough from the anxious opening of the first movement, Allegro energico e con fuoco, with its restless arpeggio figuration passing between piano and strings. Another C minor theme, introduced by violin over a rippling keyboard accompaniment, is more melodious but no happier. Lyrical contrast is offered by the elegantly shaped second subject in E flat major, though not so much on its dramatic first presentation, fortissimo and con forza by the whole ensemble, as when the piano quietly takes it up and discovers the poetry in it. Although that same theme motivates a comparatively peaceful episode in the middle of the turbulent development section, it cannot avoid being engulfed by the arpeggio figuration on its inevitable return in C minor. So its radiant reappearance in C major at an unexpectedly early stage in the recapitulation is all the more encouraging. In the long term, however, after a resourcefully extended development of the second theme of the first subject, that encouragement proves to be illusory.

The two middle movements are both studies in escapism. The Andante espressivo is a reversion to the song-without-words mode cast in a cosy ternary structure with a middle section only as different from the outer section as E flat minor from E flat major. The same rhythmic lilt prevails throughout and the basic textural arrangement, with the strings in duet against a piano accompaniment, remains unchanged. In the G minor Scherzo Mendelssohn is again successful, as he was in the equivalent movement of the earlier Piano Trio in D minor, in recapturing the elfin spirit of his youth. The G major middle section is safely accommodated first by anticipating it in the opening section and then by integrating it with the scherzo material at the end.

The most daring and original part of the work is the Finale, where the stressed composer finds his salvation. Basically a rondo with the main theme in C minor, it has two distinct episodes in major keys. In the second episode the piano introduces a chorale melody Vor deinem Thron (Before thy throne) which, though associated with fragments of the main theme on violin and cello, has an entirely distinctive character of its own. The first episode is recapitulated in C minor but on its reappearance the chorale has the authority to retain its major mode and, indeed, to convert the other themes to C major. The work ends triumphantly in that key.

Simon Parkin (b

First Trio (1987)

Tempo Rubato  

Presto  

Adagio

Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)

Piano Trio in A minor Op.50 (1881-2)

Pezzo elegiaco: moderato assai - allegro giusto

Tema con variazioni -

Variazione finale e coda

Although it has been much abused in the past by virtuoso pianist-composers, the piano trio is just as capable of intimate expression and serious thought as the string quartet. One of the greatest examples of its kind, Mendelssohn’s Piano Trio in C minor, conceals nothing of the stress he was suffering at the time he wrote it. As he told his sister Rebekka early in 1845, “I have been feeling such an urgent need for physical rest (for no travelling, no conducting, no performing) that I am forced to yield to it and, God willing, I mean to order my life to that purpose during the whole year.” His state of mind is clear enough from the anxious opening of the first movement and from the way that the encouragement offered by the contrastingly lyrical second subject proves illusory in the end. The two middle movements - a cosy song-without-words Andante espressivo and a characteristically elfin Scherzo - are both studies in escapism. True salvation is achieved in the Finale, where the chorale melody “Vor deinem Thron” (Before thy throne) ultimately converts C-minor adversity to C-major triumph.

Simon Parkin, who as pianist of the Manchester Piano Trio knows the medium from the inside, has not been reluctant to confide in it. “This trio was written,” he says, “in something of a romantic haze, and is therefore overtly emotional in places, particularly the outer movements.” He goes on to say that “the harmonic language at the start is rather expressionist, but the style expands from there to encompass minimalism, heroic Americanism (in a scherzo partly inspired by the ‘A-team’—it was 1987, after all!), and Shostakovich during his more heart-on-the-sleeve moments. There are, hopefully, enough unifying devices to bind the disparate styles together. There is a certain amount of 12-tone technique, for example, which is hopefully far enough below the surface not to spoil the piece, but to make it more coherent. The intervallic connections between the movements should be clear, and there are even some tunes!”

Tchaikovsky swore he would never write a piano trio: “It is beyond my powers… It is impossible for me to stand the piano playing in partnership with either a solo violin or a solo cello. It seems to me that these sounds repel each other…Even thinking about the sound of a trio is a source of actual physical discomfort to me.” What changed his mind was the sudden death of his colleague, mentor and friend Nikolay Rubinstein. It was presumably the symbolism of an incontestably authoritative piano part in an intimate setting that appealed to Tchaikovsky at this time. Taking care not to write, as he put it, “symphonic music adapted to the trio,” he completed the work in Rome in the middle of January 1882, dedicated it “to the memory of great artist” and had it first performed at the Moscow Conservatoire on the anniversary of Rubinstein’s death two months later.