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Johannes Brahms

It is well known that Brahms was in the habit of destroying those of his works which did not please him, and this fate befell not only youthful experiments, but entire mature works. So great was his insecurity that perhaps even great symphonies and concertos, which might have warmed all humankind, produced instead only a few moments of warmth from the composer's fireplace. A youthful work which escaped such a dire fate is Brahms' First Piano Trio. Completed in early 1854, it was the first of the composer's chamber works to be published. This occurred in spite of criticism from none other than Clara Schumann, whom Brahms adored and respected as friend and musician. Some 34 years later, Brahms accepted the invitation of his publisher, Simrock, to revise some of his early works, including this trio. Uncharacteristically, Brahms permitted both versions of the work to exist, and even suggested the two be promoted together. A century later, it is the revised version that is most often performed and recorded.

Like Brahms' other piano trios, and unlike those of Mozart, the work is in four movements, with a second-movement scherzo added to the usual three movements. This gives the work a near-symphonic scope; a performance can run to nearly 40 minutes. The work begins pensively. After a brief piano introduction comes a marvelous cello solo theme which migrates to the entire ensemble. Rather than developing in the manner of Mozart's trios, the work then unfolds more like the first movement of a symphony, rich in themes and ideas. This long first movement, in fact, was that which Brahms most extensively revised in the later version of the work.

The Scherzo features a whispered, skipping minor theme which quickly bursts into a major key and becomes positively exuberant. A second, bucolic theme, still in the major mode, builds to grand proportions before the first theme returns, develops in startling directions, and ends the movement dramatically but quietly.

The work becomes mysterious in the Adagio. A passage of soft, stepping piano chords beneath singing phrases in the violin leads to an extended and very warm cello passage. In spite of its overall darkness, the movement is serene, almost meditative. It ends, as it began, with stepping piano chords.

The final movement is the most expansive of all, as Brahms once again makes use of the piano's power to create a symphonic sweep. A once-repeated passage of syncopation is strangely distracting, but the movement builds to a satisfying finish. As a piano trio, the work is notably enormous in scope and sound. Reflecting in its two versions both early and mature Brahms, it is a virtual blueprint of the composer's stylistic development.