Piano Trio in D minor, Op.49 (1839)

Of Mendelssohn’s two piano trios, written in 1839 and 1845 respectively, the one in D minor, Op.49, is the earlier and the more likeable but not necessarily the greater of the two. Its special attraction is the quality of its melodies, like the one introduced by the cello at the beginning of the first movement: it has a splendid dramatic impulse and, at the same time, a very useful structural motif in its first phrase. The other main theme, also introduced by the cello, is a happier but still urgent inspiration. These two themes are different enough to supply all the contrast Mendelssohn needs and yet similar enough to assume almost the same identity by the end of the movement.

Both the Andante, a melodious song without words based on the expressive little theme heard on the piano at the beginning, and the Scherzo, closely related to the lightly articulated Scherzo in the incidental music to A Midsummer Night’s Dream, are thoroughly characteristic Mendelssohn. The Finale is a rondo which is saved from domination by the persistent rhythm of its main theme by the timely intervention of yet another lovely cello melody. It is through the influence of the noble theme that uneasy D minor is finally persuaded to give way to a happy D major.

Of Mendelssohn’s two piano trios, written in 1839 and 1845 respectively, the D minor, Op.49, is the earlier and the more likeable but not necessarily the greater of the two. Its special attraction is in the quality of its melodies, like the one introduced by the cello at the beginning of the first movement: it has a splendid dramatic impulse and, at the same time, a very useful structural motif in its first phrase. The second subject, also introduced by the cello, is a happier but still urgent statement in A major. Mendelssohn never looked for diametric opposition in his material. These two melodies are different enough to supply all the contrast he needs and yet similar enough assume almost the same identity by the end of the movement.

The Andante is a melodious song without words based, for the most part, on the expressive little theme in B flat major on the piano at the beginning. The third movement is equally characteristic Mendelssohn - a lightly articulated scherzo (without trio) closely related to the Scherzo in the incidental music to A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”

The Finale is a rondo which, just in time, is saved from domination by the persistent rhythm of its main theme by a lovely cello melody in b flat major. The obsessive rhythm soon return but, after that inspiration, the finale is never the same again and it is through another intervention of that noble melody that D minor is finally persuaded to give way to a happy D major.

When Schumann first heard Mendelssohn’s Piano Trio in D minor he immediately recognised its importance: “This,” he wrote, “is the master trio of our time, just as Beethoven’s in B flat and D and Schubert’s in E flat were of theirs.”

The stylish piano writing is surely one reason why Schumann found the work to be so much of his time but he must also – to judge by the parallels with his own Piano Trio in D minor – have been impressed by the breadth and the dramatic continuity of the construction of the first movement. The arresting melodic shape and rhythmic impulse of the first subject, introduced by the cello against syncopated D minor harmonies on the piano, generate the material for an unusually spacious opening paragraph. The jubilant second subject, introduced in A major by the cello again, is such a contrast that it takes not only an extensive development to reconcile them but also further exchanges towards the end of the recapitulation.

While the Andante con moto tranquillo in B flat major has frequently been likened to the Songs without Words, which is a by no means inappropriate comparison, it also anticipates something of the intimately confiding nature of some of Schumann’s chamber music. The third movement, on the other hand, is an elfin scherzo of a kind exclusive to Mendelssohn. It is outstandingly resourceful too in that it sustains itself quite effortlessly on virtually only one theme. If, as the source of two of the main themes of a sonata-rondo construction, the opening rhythmic figure of the Allegro assai appassionato seems rather too persistent, the situation is saved just in time by the entry of a lovely cello melody in B flat major. After that happy inspiration, the finale is never the same again and, by way of another intervention of cello melody, D minor is finally persuaded to give way to an exuberant D major.

When Schumann first heard Mendelssohn’s Piano Trio in D minor, shortly before its official first performance in Leipzig in February 1840, he immediately recognised its importance: “This,” he wrote, “is the master trio of our time, just as Beethoven’s in B flat and D and Schubert’s in E flat were of theirs.”

While the stylish piano writing is surely one reason why Schumann found the work to be so much of his time, he must also - to judge by the parallels with his own Piano Trio in D minor - have been impressed by the breadth and the dramatic continuity of the construction of the first movement. The arresting melodic shape and rhythmic impulse of the first subject, introduced by the cello against syncopated D minor harmonies on the piano, generate the material for an unusually spacious opening paragraph. The jubilant second subject, introduced in A major by the cello again, is such a contrast that it takes not only an extensive development to reconcile them but also further exchanges towards the end of the recapitulation.

The Andante con moto tranquillo in B flat major has frequently been likened to the Songs without Words, which is a by no means inappropriate comparison, although it also anticipates something of the intimately confiding nature of some of Schumann’s chamber music - above all on the entry of the string instruments, which pursue an increasingly passionate dialogue through the B flat minor middle section before recovering their tranquillity in an even more beautifully scored closing section.

The third movement is not only characteristic of the elfin Mendelssohn scherzo but also outstandingly resourceful in that it sustains itself quite effortlessly on virtually only one theme. If, on the other hand, as the source of two of the main themes of a sonata-rondo construction, the opening rhythmic figure of the Allegro assai appassionato seems rather too persistent, the situation is saved just in time by the entry of a lovely cello melody in B flat major. After that happy inspiration, the finale is never the same again and it is through another intervention of cello melody that D minor is finally persuaded to give way to an exuberant D major.

When Schumann first heard the Piano Trio in D minor, shortly before its official first performance in Leipzig in February 1840, he immediately recognised its importance: “This,” he wrote, “is the master trio of our time, just as Beethoven’s in B flat and D and Schubert’s in E flat were of theirs.” As we know from a letter he wrote to his sister Fanny in January 1832, Mendelssohn had been intending to write such a work for some time. But circumstances combined first to delay him in getting to work on the Piano Trio in D minor until 1838 and then – on the intervention of his friend Ferdinand Hiller, who had just arrived from Paris – to persuade him to revise the piano part in the light of the brilliant developments recently introduced by Chopin and Liszt.

While the stylish piano writing is surely one reason why Schumann found the work to be so much of his time, he must also – to judge by the parallels with his own Piano Trio in D minor – have been impressed by the breadth and the dramatic continuity of the first movement. The arresting melodic shape and rhythmic impulse of the first subject, introduced by the cello against syncopated D minor harmonies on the piano, generate the material for an unusually spacious opening paragraph. The jubilant second subject, introduced in A major by the cello again, is such a contrast that it takes not only an extensive development to reconcile them but also further exchanges towards the end of the recapitulation. An animato coda finally secures a variant form of the second subject in D minor.

The Andante con moto tranquillo in B flat major has frequently been likened to the Songs without Words, which is a by no means inappropriate comparison, although it also anticipates something of the intimately confiding nature of some of Schumann’s chamber music – above all on the entry of the string instruments, which pursue an increasingly passionate dialogue through the B flat minor middle section before recovering their tranquillity in an even more beautifully scored closing section.

The D major Scherzo is not only characteristic of its elfin kind but also outstandingly resourceful in that it sustains itself quite effortlessly on virtually only one theme, without the relief of a trio section and with only the most minutely adjusted changes in texture. If, on the other hand, as the source of two of the main themes of a sonata-rondo construction, the opening rhythmic figure of the Allegro assai appassionato seems rather too persistent, the situation is saved just in time by the entry of a lovely cello melody in B flat major. The obsessive rhythm returns but, after that happy inspiration, the finale is never the same again and it is through another intervention of cello melody that D minor is finally persuaded to give way to an exuberant D major.