Piano Trio No.1 in D minor, Op.49
Molto allegro agitato
Andante con moto tranquillo
Scherzo. Leggiero e vivace
Finale. Allegro assai appassionato
FELIX MENDELSSOHN-BARTHOLDY was one of the most remarkable child-prodigies in musical history, and displayed an early gift for string chamber music. He series of 12 String Symphonies written between the ages of 12 and 14 culminate in his magnificent String Octet, a masterpiece of style and invention which would be a remarkable work even had it not been written by a 16-year old. He was also a fine pianist; he sight-read the piano part of Schumann’s Piano Quintet at its 1843 première. It is unsurprising, then, that the medium of the piano trio should have proved congenial to him, and with his first Trio, of 1839, he produced one of his most characteristic and lastingly popular chamber works.
The Trio strikes a balance between brilliant pianism and lyrical string-writing, and falls into the standard four symphonic movements. The opening Molto allegro agitato is a broad but urgent sonata-form movement led off by a 39-bar subject for the ‘cello. Lyricism is again the predominant mood in the major-key Andante, which has been compared to some of Mendelssohn’s Songs without Words for piano, while the short Scherzo is another sonata-movement, without a Trio, and typical of Mendelssohn’s light scherzando manner. The trio concludes with an extended rondo, Allegro assai appassionato, with a hint of gypsy music about it. The work was first performed in Frankfurt am Main in February 1840, with Mendelssohn himself at the keyboard. Robert Schumann called it "the most brilliant trio of the present day – it will still give pleasure to our grandchildren and great-grandchildren".
R. G. Bratby
Copyright Classical Notes.co.uk 2000
CLICK HERE for a wide and diverse selection of contemporary music and standard repertoire programme notes.