Piano Trio, Op. 17

1846 · Op. 17 · Piano, violin and cello

Written in Dresden and admired by Mendelssohn and Joachim. Its four movements include a lyrical Andante and a finale with a fugue.

2 recordings · 13 min

In the Hall

I. Allegro moderatoThe Mannes-⁠Gimpel-⁠Silva Trio: Leopold Mannes, piano; Bronislav Gimpel, violin; Luigi Silva, cello · 1951
7:46
The first movement, Allegro moderato, of Clara Schumann’s Piano Trio in G minor, Op. 17, draws on a falling fifth in the violin as the source of material shared by all three players. Schumann set the second theme in B♭ major and brought it back in G major, and the movement closes in G minor.
Listening notes
1. First subject, violin
  The violin’s melody falls from D to G, then climbs to E♭. Beneath it the piano plays rocking quavers. When the piano takes up the tune, violin and cello add answering lines.
2. Second subject in B♭ major
  The second theme is in B♭ major. The piano holds long notes across the beat, then breaks into quick repeated figures. Violin and cello follow with rising phrases built on diminished sevenths.
3. Development section
  In the development, fragments of the opening melody pass between cello and violin. The falling fifth widens or narrows as the harmony changes. Beneath the strings, the piano moves from descending chords to rapid arpeggios.
4. Recapitulation, first subject
  The violin plays its opening melody again in G minor over the piano’s rocking quavers. After the close exchanges of the development, the original phrase returns with little change.
5. Second subject in G major
  The piano’s second theme returns at bar 210 in G major, the tonic major. Clara keeps its offbeat long notes and quick replies. From bar 220 the music moves briefly towards B major, a key remote from the two flats of the opening.
6. Coda in G minor
  The coda is in G minor. The opening melody returns in violin and cello, then breaks into shorter exchanged figures. A held G in the bass sustains the final chain of cadences.
Open in the Concert Hall
III. AndanteThe Mannes-⁠Gimpel-⁠Silva Trio: Leopold Mannes, piano; Bronislav Gimpel, violin; Luigi Silva, cello · 1951
5:40
The third movement of the Piano Trio in G minor, Op. 17, is an Andante in G major in which the piano plays the melody alone before the violin and cello take it in turn. An agitated middle section interrupts, and when the opening returns, the cello has the tune over piano arpeggios.
Listening notes
1. Opening theme, piano alone
  The piano plays an eight-bar melody in G major alone, in six-eight time. From bar 9 the violin takes the melody over a pizzicato cello accompaniment. The cello takes the melody from bar 17.
2. Composition of the Trio, 1846
  Clara wrote the Trio between May and September 1846. It was her first chamber composition, and she came to it after years of playing the chamber music of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven at the piano.
3. Middle section, più animato
  Più animato — more animated. From bar 25, rapid figures break up the strings’ long phrases, and the piano plays forte chords. This contrasting middle section of the Andante is in E minor.
4. Return of the opening melody, cello
  At bar 53 the opening tempo and G major melody return, now in the cello rather than the piano, which first played it. The violin plays pizzicato. The piano plays broad arpeggios rising from the bass.
5. Decca recording, Mannes, Gimpel, Silva
  Leopold Mannes played the piano, Bronislav Gimpel the violin and Luigi Silva the cello. Their Decca LP coupled Clara’s Trio with a short B♭ major trio by Beethoven.
Open in the Concert Hall

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