Piano Trio No. 3 (Brahms) - Misplaced Pages

Piano Trio in C minor
No. 3
by Johannes Brahms
The composer in 1880
Key	C minor
Opus	101
Composed	1886
Published	1887
Movements	Four

The Piano Trio No. 3 in C minor, Op. 101, by Johannes Brahms is scored for piano, violin and cello, and was written in the summer of 1886 while Brahms was on holiday in Hofstetten, Switzerland. It was premiered on 20 December of that year by Brahms, violinist Jenő Hubay, and cellist David Popper.

Structure

The trio is in four movements:

Allegro energico
C minor, sonata form. Orrin Howard calls this movement "unrelentingly compulsive," and James Keller say the first theme "springs into action with a furious outburst, rather in the mode of a Beethovenian eruption," which is balanced by the "aristocratic poise" of the second theme. The entire movement is organized with terse economy. Brahms’s friend Heinrich von Herzogenberg wrote, "Smaller men will hardly trust themselves to proceed so laconically without forfeiting some of what they have to say."
Presto non assai
C minor, ternary form. This movement takes the form of an intermezzo, in place of the traditional scherzo and trio. Keller calls this a "mere will-o’-wisp of a scherzo." Hoard writes: "It is a peculiar little movement, hypnotic as it continually reflects its motivic and rhythmic ideas, until we are almost shocked to discover that time has passed."
Andante grazioso
C major, ternary form. This movement involves the use of alternating time signatures:
₄ and
₄, as well as
₈ and
₈. Keller writes: "With the third movement we turn to an ultra-familiar Brahmsian landscape: an intermezzo, characteristically marked Andante grazioso. But where most Brahms intermezzos are calm and consoling, perhaps dreamy, this one may leave listeners feeling uneasy in a way that may seem hard to pin down."
Allegro molto
C minor, sonata form. Ends in C major. Howard calls this movement "rhythmically intense," and Keller writes, "By now we will understand that this piano trio is to a large extent “about” rhythmic variety, and the finale carries that idea through to the end through an abundance of hemiolas (i.e. brief passages of duple against triple meter), falsely placed accents, and cross-rhythms."

References

Clive, Brahms and His World:A Biographical Dictionary, p. xxvii, xxviii,xxix
LA Phil, The Piano Trios
SF Symphony, Brahms: Trio in C minor for Violin, Cello, and Piano, Opus 101
SF Symphony, Brahms: Trio in C minor for Violin, Cello, and Piano, Opus 101
SF Symphony, Brahms: Trio in C minor for Violin, Cello, and Piano, Opus 101
LA Phil, The Piano Trios
SF Symphony, Brahms: Trio in C minor for Violin, Cello, and Piano, Opus 101
LA Phil, The Piano Trios
SF Symphony, Brahms: Trio in C minor for Violin, Cello, and Piano, Opus 101

External links

Piano Trio No. 3: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
Performance of Piano Trio No. 3 by the Claremont Trio from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in MP3 format
Detailed Listening Guide using the recording by Trio Opus 8

v t e Chamber music by Johannes Brahms
Duos	Cello Sonata No. 1 in E minor, Op. 38 Cello Sonata No. 2 in F major, Op. 99 Clarinet Sonata No. 1 in F minor, Op. 120, No. 1 Clarinet Sonata No. 2 in E-flat major, Op. 120, No. 2 Violin Sonata No. 1 in G major, Op. 78 Violin Sonata No. 2 in A major, Op. 100 Violin Sonata No. 3 in D minor, Op. 108
Trios	Clarinet Trio in A minor, Op. 114 Horn Trio in E-flat major, Op. 40 Piano Trio No. 1 in B major, Op. 8 Piano Trio No. 2 in C major, Op. 87 Piano Trio No. 3 in C minor, Op. 101 Piano Trio in A major, Anh. 4/5 (doubtful)
Quartets	Piano Quartet No. 1 in G minor, Op. 25 Piano Quartet No. 2 in A major, Op. 26 Piano Quartet No. 3 in C minor, Op. 60 String Quartets, Op. 51 (No. 1 in C minor; No. 2 in A minor) String Quartet No. 3 in B-flat major, Op. 67
Quintets & Sextets	Clarinet Quintet in B minor, Op. 115 Piano Quintet in F minor, Op. 34 String Quintet No. 1 in F major, Op. 88 String Quintet No. 2 in G major, Op. 111 String Sextet No. 1 in B-flat major, Op. 18 String Sextet No. 2 in G major, Op. 36
List of compositions by Johannes Brahms

v t e Johannes Brahms
List of compositions
Orchestral works	Academic Festival Overture Serenades Symphony No. 1 in C minor Symphony No. 2 in D major Symphony No. 3 in F major Symphony No. 4 in E minor Tragic Overture Variations on a Theme by Haydn
Concertante	Double Concerto Piano Concerto No. 1 Piano Concerto No. 2 Violin Concerto
Vocal works with orchestra	A German Requiem Alto Rhapsody Gesang der Parzen Nänie Rinaldo Schicksalslied Triumphlied
Chamber music	Cello Sonata No. 1 Cello Sonata No. 2 Clarinet Quintet Clarinet Sonatas Clarinet Trio Horn Trio Piano Quartet No. 1 Piano Quartet No. 2 Piano Quartet No. 3 Piano Quintet Piano Trio No. 1 Piano Trio No. 2 Piano Trio No. 3 String Quartet No. 3 String Quintet No. 1 String Quintet No. 2 String Sextet No. 1 String Sextet No. 2 Two String Quartets, Op. 51 Violin Sonata No. 1 Violin Sonata No. 2 Violin Sonata No. 3
Piano works	Ballades, Op. 10 Fantasies, Op. 116 Four Pieces for Piano, Op. 119 Hungarian Dances Piano Sonata No. 1 Piano Sonata No. 2 Piano Sonata No. 3 Rhapsodies, Op. 79 Six Pieces for Piano, Op. 118 Sixteen Waltzes, Op. 39 Three Intermezzi for piano, Op. 117 Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Handel Variations on a Theme of Paganini
Other compositions	Eleven Chorale Preludes Fest- und Gedenksprüche Fünf Gesänge, Op. 104 Fünf Lieder, Op. 105 Geistliches Lied Liebeslieder Waltzes, Op. 52 Neue Liebeslieder Two Motets, Op. 74 Two Songs for Voice, Viola and Piano, Op. 91 Vier ernste Gesänge "Wiegenlied (Lullaby)", Op. 49, no. 4 Zigeunerlieder
Collaborations	F-A-E Sonata
Named for Brahms	1818 Brahms Brahms (crater) Brahms Inlet
Related articles	Brahms House (Baden-Baden) Brahms Museum (Hamburg) Brahms Museum, Mürzzuschlag Brahms guitar Brahms-Institut Brahms-Preis German Romanticism International Johannes Brahms Competition Musical cryptogram Three Bs Op. 120, No. 1 (Berio)
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