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Trio in C major for Piano, Violin, and Cello, Op. 87
Johannes Brahms
  • Composed in 1880–82
  • Duration: 28 minutes

Composed over a two-year period, Brahms’s second piano trio had better luck than the E-flat trio he began around the same time; he ended up throwing the latter away. Brahms premiered the work in late 1882 and received critical praise from his confidante and collaborator Clara Schumann. The creation and completion of the Piano Trio in C major coincided with a significant number of Brahms’s other contributions to the chamber music and sonata repertoires, including but not limited to his three violin sonatas, second cello sonata, and first two string quartets.

The Allegro illustrates a deft balance between Classical and Romantic aesthetics: unified melodic lines between violin and cello with supportive piano, clear phrase endings, and a cultivated emotional sensibility. The second movement continues the refinement of the previous one, but with more agitation and uncertainty, offsetting the unification of cello and violin. The Scherzo is uncharacteristically spritely for a Brahms chamber movement, but a welcome contrast to the lyrical solemnity that came before. The Finale is jubilant, with more sharing of leadership responsibilities between the piano, cello, and violin. Brahms is sometimes stereotyped as a humorless man, more academic than emotional. With this trio and its final movement, he not only proves the stereotype wrong, but shows that being academic and emotional are not mutually exclusive.

— Program Notes © A. Kori Hill

Trio in C major for Piano, Violin, and Cello, Op. 87
Johannes Brahms
  • Composed in 1880–82
  • Duration: 28 minutes

Composed over a two-year period, Brahms’s second piano trio had better luck than the E-flat trio he began around the same time; he ended up throwing the latter away. Brahms premiered the work in late 1882 and received critical praise from his confidante and collaborator Clara Schumann. The creation and completion of the Piano Trio in C major coincided with a significant number of Brahms’s other contributions to the chamber music and sonata repertoires, including but not limited to his three violin sonatas, second cello sonata, and first two string quartets.

The Allegro illustrates a deft balance between Classical and Romantic aesthetics: unified melodic lines between violin and cello with supportive piano, clear phrase endings, and a cultivated emotional sensibility. The second movement continues the refinement of the previous one, but with more agitation and uncertainty, offsetting the unification of cello and violin. The Scherzo is uncharacteristically spritely for a Brahms chamber movement, but a welcome contrast to the lyrical solemnity that came before. The Finale is jubilant, with more sharing of leadership responsibilities between the piano, cello, and violin. Brahms is sometimes stereotyped as a humorless man, more academic than emotional. With this trio and its final movement, he not only proves the stereotype wrong, but shows that being academic and emotional are not mutually exclusive.

— Program Notes © A. Kori Hill