Piano trio
Encyclopedia
A piano trio is a group of piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...

 and two other instruments, usually a violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....

 and a cello
Cello
The cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...

, or a piece of music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...

 written for such a group. It is one of the most common forms found in classical chamber music
Chamber music
Chamber music is a form of classical music, written for a small group of instruments which traditionally could be accommodated in a palace chamber. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small number of performers with one performer to a part...

. The term can also refer to a group of musicians who regularly play this repertoire together; for a number of well-known piano trios, see below.

Form

Works titled "Piano Trio" tend to be in the same overall shape as a sonata. Initially this was in the three movement form, though some of Haydn's have two movements. With the early 19th century, particularly Beethoven, this genre was felt to be more appropriate to cast in the four movement form. Piano trios that are set in the Sonata tradition
History of sonata form
This article treats the history of sonata form in the Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and Modern eras. For a definition of sonata form, see sonata form. For an account of critical thought as it relates to sonata form, see Criticism and sonata form...

 share the general concerns of such works for their era, and often are reflective directly of symphonic practice with individual movements laid out according to the composer's understanding of the sonata form
Sonata form
Sonata form is a large-scale musical structure used widely since the middle of the 18th century . While it is typically used in the first movement of multi-movement pieces, it is sometimes used in subsequent movements as well—particularly the final movement...

.

In the Classical period, home music making made the piano trio a very popular genre for arrangements of other works. For example Beethoven transcribed his first two symphonies for piano trio. Thus a large number of works exist for the arrangement of piano, violin and violoncello which are not generally titled or numbered as piano trios, but which are nonetheless part of the overall genre. These include single movements as well as sets of variations such as Beethoven's Variations on ‘Ich bin der Schneider Kakadu’ Op. 121a and Variations in E flat major Op. 44.

After the classical era, works for piano and two instruments continue to be written which are not presented as in the sonata tradition, or are arrangements of other works. Many of these individual works are popular on concert programs, for example Suk's Elegie.

For individual articles treating works for piano trio, see :Category:Compositions for piano trio.

The role of the three instruments

The piano trios of the Classical era, notably those of Haydn
Joseph Haydn
Franz Joseph Haydn , known as Joseph Haydn , was an Austrian composer, one of the most prolific and prominent composers of the Classical period. He is often called the "Father of the Symphony" and "Father of the String Quartet" because of his important contributions to these forms...

, are dominated by the piano part. The violin only plays the melody a certain amount of the time, and is often doubled by the piano when it does. The cello part is very much subordinated, usually just doubling the bass line in the piano. It is thought that this practice was quite intentional on Haydn's part and was related to the sonority of the instruments of Haydn's day: the piano was fairly weak and "tinkling" in tone, and benefited from the tonal strengthening of other instruments. Mozart's
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...

 earlier trios are also rather dominated by the piano part.

With time, a new ideal of piano trio composition arose, in which each of the three instruments was supposed to contribute equally to the music. This is seen, for instance, in Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential composers of all time.Born in Bonn, then the capital of the Electorate of Cologne and part of...

's trios, and was likely in part the result of the increase in the power and sonority of the piano that took place during Beethoven's career, making it more feasible for the piano to play independently in an ensemble. The new idea of equality was never implemented completely; the extent to which it is realized varies from one composition to the next, as well as among movements within a single composition. Certainly by the mid nineteenth century, all three instruments had been modified to have a very powerful sound, and each can hold its own in a modern ensemble.

The earlier trios are now frequently performed and recorded using authentic instruments, of the kind for which they were originally written. Such performances restore the sonic balance the composer would have expected, and have proven popular.

Other combinations

Some rather rare combinations of instruments have nonetheless inspired a few outstanding works.
  • Haydn wrote three trios for flute, cello & piano (H. 15/15-17), a combination for which Carl Maria von Weber
    Carl Maria von Weber
    Carl Maria Friedrich Ernst von Weber was a German composer, conductor, pianist, guitarist and critic, one of the first significant composers of the Romantic school....

     also wrote one work (op. 63).
  • Beethoven wrote his Trio in G major, WoO 37 (1786) for flute, bassoon, and piano.
  • Francis Poulenc
    Francis Poulenc
    Francis Jean Marcel Poulenc was a French composer and a member of the French group Les six. He composed solo piano music, chamber music, oratorio, choral music, opera, ballet music, and orchestral music...

    's Trio op. 43 (1926) is for oboe, bassoon and piano.
  • The Horn-violin-piano trio is exemplified by Brahms' Trio Op. 40 in E flat
    Horn Trio (Brahms)
    The Horn Trio in E flat major, Op. 40, by Johannes Brahms is a chamber piece in four movements written for natural horn, violin, and piano. Composed in 1865, the work commemorates the death of Brahms’ mother, Christiane, earlier that year. The work was first performed in Zurich on November 28,...

     and György Ligeti
    György Ligeti
    György Sándor Ligeti was a composer of contemporary classical music. Born in a Hungarian Jewish family in Transylvania, Romania, he briefly lived in Hungary before becoming an Austrian citizen.-Early life:...

    's 1982 Trio for Violin, Horn and Piano.
  • Trios with clarinet include masterpieces by Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms and Bartok; many more works are listed in the articles Clarinet-violin-piano trio
    Clarinet-violin-piano trio
    A clarinet-violin-piano trio is a standardized chamber musical ensemble made up of one clarinet, one violin, and one piano participating in relatively equal roles, or the name of a piece written for such a group....

    , Clarinet-viola-piano trio
    Clarinet-viola-piano trio
    A clarinet-viola-piano trio is a chamber musical ensemble made up of one clarinet, one viola, and one piano, or the name of a piece written for such a group....

     and Clarinet-cello-piano trio
    Clarinet-cello-piano trio
    A clarinet-cello-piano trio is a chamber musical ensemble made up of one clarinet, one cello, and one piano, or the name of a piece written for such a group.This formation is similar to the classical Piano trio in which the violin is replaced by the clarinet...

    .

Playing piano trios

Piano trios, or works for piano trio, are considered chamber music. Since they involve three musicians who, in most works, contribute more or less equally to the music, the process of collaboration is frequently mentioned as being as important as other parts of musical preparation. The pianist must complement, rather than overwhelm, the other players, and the string players must understand when they have a melodic or harmonic role to play.

Among the piano trios, works by Haydn and Mozart are considered the best starting point for pianists new to chamber music.

Example piano trios, extant and defunct

Among the best known of such groups are or have been:
  • Altenberg Trio
    Altenberg Trio
    The Altenberg Trio is a piano trio formed in 1994 in Vienna. It is named after a Viennese poet Peter Altenberg. Since its debut during the Salzburg Mozart Week in 1994, it is one of the few full-time piano trios in Europe. The ensemble became Trio-in-residence of Vienna's Gesellschaft der...

     (Austria)
  • Maria Baptist
    Maria Baptist
    Maria Baptist is a German musician and professor.-Career:Maria Baptist was born in 1971 in East Berlin in a very musical family. Her grandfather was an orchestra musician and composer, her father himself is a pianist. Maria discovered very early her fascination for music and at the age of six she...

     Trio (Berlin, Germany)
  • Istomin-Stern-Rose Trio, consisting of Eugene Istomin, Isaac Stern and Leonard Rose. (United States)
  • One consisting of Alfred Cortot
    Alfred Cortot
    Alfred Denis Cortot was a Franco-Swiss pianist and conductor. He is one of the most renowned 20th-century classical musicians, especially valued for his poetic insight in Romantic period piano works, particularly those of Chopin and Schumann.-Early life and education:Born in Nyon, Vaud, in the...

    , Jacques Thibaud
    Jacques Thibaud
    Jacques Thibaud was a French violinist.Thibaud was born in Bordeaux and studied the violin with his father before entering the Paris Conservatoire at the age of thirteen. In 1896 he jointly won the conservatory's violin prize with Pierre Monteux...

     and Pablo Casals
    Pablo Casals
    Pau Casals i Defilló , known during his professional career as Pablo Casals, was a Spanish Catalan cellist and conductor. He is generally regarded as the pre-eminent cellist of the first half of the 20th century, and one of the greatest cellists of all time...

    , earlier in the 20th century
  • The Beaux Arts Trio
    Beaux Arts Trio
    The Beaux Arts Trio was a noted piano trio. They made their debut on July 13, 1955 at the Berkshire Music Festival, known today as the Tanglewood Music Center. Their final American concert was held at Tanglewood on August 21, 2008. It was webcast live and archived on NPR Music...

     (United States), whose commitment to using the same players in every concert pioneered a new generation of similarly committed groups; defunct
  • Trio di Trieste (Italy) defunct
  • The "Ax-Kim-Ma" trio, consisting of Emanuel Ax
    Emanuel Ax
    Emanuel Ax is a Grammy-winning American classical pianist. He is currently a teacher on the faculty of the Juilliard School. He is considered one of the best known concert pianists of the 21st century.-Early life:...

    , Young Uck Kim, and Yo-Yo Ma
    Yo-Yo Ma
    Yo-Yo Ma is an American cellist, virtuoso, and orchestral composer. He has received multiple Grammy Awards, the National Medal of Arts in 2001 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011...

     (United States)
  • Eroica Trio
    Eroica Trio
    The Eroica Trio is an American piano trio consisting of Erika Nickrenz, piano; Susie Park, violin; and Sara Sant'Ambrogio, cello. Park joined the trio in September 2006 . The trio take their name from Beethoven's Eroica Symphony...

     (United States)
  • Ahn Trio
    Ahn Trio
    The Ahn Trio is a classical piano trio comprised of three sisters: Angella , Lucia and Maria . Lucia and Maria are twins. Born in Seoul, Korea, they moved to New York City in 1981 and began their training at the Juilliard School. The sisters decided to form a trio while they were earning their...

     (United States/Korea)
  • Trio Fontenay
    Trio Fontenay
    The Trio Fontenay was a German classical music piano trio, who performed worldwide and recorded much of the significant piano trio repertoire between the years 1980 and 2006.-Formation:...

     (Germany)
  • Suk Trio
    Suk Trio
    The Suk Trio is a Czech piano trio founded in 1951. They made their debut on March 5 at the Rudolfinum Hall in Prague with Josef Suk , Jiří Hubička and Alexandr Večtomov...

     (Czech Republic)
  • The Florestan Trio
    Florestan Trio
    The Florestan Trio is a piano trio. Formed in 1995 in London, England, its members are Anthony Marwood , Richard Lester , and Susan Tomes . Their recording of the first two trios by Schumann won the 1999 Gramophone Award for chamber music. Also in 1999, the Trio received the Music Award for Chamber...

     (United Kingdom)
  • The Greenwich Trio
    The Greenwich Trio
    The Greenwich Trio is a classical piano trio formed in 2006. Its members are Lana Trotovšek , Stjepan Hauser , and Yoko Misumi ....

     (United Kingdom)
  • The Oberlin Trio
    Oberlin Trio
    The Oberlin Trio was founded in 1982 by three faculty members of the Oberlin Conservatory: Stephen Clapp, violin; Andor Toth Jr., cello; and Joseph Schwartz, piano.- Original members :Both Clapp and Schwartz were winners of the coveted and have retired...

      (United States)
  • The Alma Trio
    Alma Trio
    The Alma Trio was a classical piano trio established in 1942 at the Alma Estate of Yehudi Menuhin in Los Gatos, California.- Original members :...

      (United States)
  • Trio Wanderer
    Trio Wanderer
    Trio Wanderer is a piano trio formed by three french musicians at the Paris Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique. They studied with such masters as Menahem Pressler from the Beaux Arts Trio, and the Amadeus Quartet. They won numerous prizes such as the ARD Competition in Munich and the...

     (France)
  • Haydn Trio Eisenstadt (Austria)
  • Bamberg Trio (Germany)
  • Manhattan Piano Trio
    Manhattan Piano Trio
    The Manhattan Piano Trio is a prominent New York-based piano trio formed in 2004. Its current members are violinist Wayne Lee, cellist Dmitry Kouzov, and pianist Milana Strezeva....

     (United States)
  • Spirale Piano Trio (Belgium)
  • Xonor Trio (United States)

Famous works for piano trio

  • Anton Arensky
    Anton Arensky
    Anton Stepanovich Arensky -Biography:Arensky was born in Novgorod, Russia. He was musically precocious and had composed a number of songs and piano pieces by the age of nine...

    's Piano Trio No. 1 in D minor
    Piano Trio No. 1 (Arensky)
    Piano Trio No. 1 in D minor, Op. 32, for violin, cello and piano is a Romantic chamber composition by Russian composer Anton Arensky. It was written in 1894 and is in four movements:#Allegro moderato #Scherzo - Allegro molto...

  • Ludwig van Beethoven
    Ludwig van Beethoven
    Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential composers of all time.Born in Bonn, then the capital of the Electorate of Cologne and part of...

    's trios, especially Piano Trio No. 7 in B-flat major "Archduke", Op. 97
  • Johannes Brahms
    Johannes Brahms
    Johannes Brahms was a German composer and pianist, and one of the leading musicians of the Romantic period. Born in Hamburg, Brahms spent much of his professional life in Vienna, Austria, where he was a leader of the musical scene...

    's Piano Trio No. 1 in B major, Op. 8
    Piano Trio No. 1 (Brahms)
    The Piano Trio in B, opus 8, by Johannes Brahms was composed during 1854. The composer produced a revised version of the work in 1891. It is scored for piano, violin and cello, and it is the only work of Brahms to exist today in two published versions, although it is almost always the revised...

     and No. 2 in C major, Op. 87
    Piano Trio No. 2 (Brahms)
    The Piano Trio in C, opus 87, by Johannes Brahms was composed during 1880-2. It is scored for piano, violin and cello. It was first performed at a chamber music evening in Frankfurt-on-Main on 29 December 1882.The trio is in four movements:...

  • Ernest Chausson
    Ernest Chausson
    Amédée-Ernest Chausson was a French romantic composer who died just as his career was beginning to flourish.-Life:Ernest Chausson was born in Paris into a prosperous bourgeois family...

    's Piano Trio in G minor, Op. 3
  • Frédéric Chopin
    Frédéric Chopin
    Frédéric François Chopin was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist. He is considered one of the great masters of Romantic music and has been called "the poet of the piano"....

    's Piano Trio in G minor, Op. 8
    Piano Trio (Chopin)
    The Piano Trio, Op. 8, is a piano trio in G minor composed by Frédéric Chopin. It has four movements:#Allegro con Fuoco#Scherzo#Adagio Sostenuto#Finale: Allegretto...

  • Antonín Dvořák
    Antonín Dvorák
    Antonín Leopold Dvořák was a Czech composer of late Romantic music, who employed the idioms of the folk music of Moravia and his native Bohemia. Dvořák’s own style is sometimes called "romantic-classicist synthesis". His works include symphonic, choral and chamber music, concerti, operas and many...

    's Piano Trio No. 4 in E minor ("Dumky"), Op. 90
    Piano Trio No. 4 (Dvorák)
    The Piano Trio No. 4 in E Minor is a piece by Antonin Dvořák for piano, violin and cello...

  • Gabriel Fauré
    Gabriel Fauré
    Gabriel Urbain Fauré was a French composer, organist, pianist and teacher. He was one of the foremost French composers of his generation, and his musical style influenced many 20th century composers...

    's piano trio
  • Felix Mendelssohn
    Felix Mendelssohn
    Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Barthóldy , use the form 'Mendelssohn' and not 'Mendelssohn Bartholdy'. The Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians gives ' Felix Mendelssohn' as the entry, with 'Mendelssohn' used in the body text...

    's two piano trios
  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
    Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
    Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...

    's piano trios, particularly K502, K542 and K548
  • Sergei Rachmaninoff
    Sergei Rachmaninoff
    Sergei Vasilievich Rachmaninoff was a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a composer, one of the last great representatives of Romanticism in Russian classical music...

    's Elegiac Trios No. 1 in G minor and No. 2 in D minor
  • Maurice Ravel
    Maurice Ravel
    Joseph-Maurice Ravel was a French composer known especially for his melodies, orchestral and instrumental textures and effects...

    's Trio for Piano, Violin and Cello
    Piano Trio (Ravel)
    Maurice Ravel's Trio for piano, violin and cello is a chamber work composed in 1914. Dedicated to Ravel's counterpoint teacher André Gedalge, the trio was first performed in Paris in January 1915, by Alfredo Casella , Gabriel Willaume , and Louis Feuillard...

  • Camille Saint-Saëns
    Camille Saint-Saëns
    Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns was a French Late-Romantic composer, organist, conductor, and pianist. He is known especially for The Carnival of the Animals, Danse macabre, Samson and Delilah, Piano Concerto No. 2, Cello Concerto No. 1, Havanaise, Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso, and his Symphony...

    's Piano Trio No. 2 in E minor
  • Franz Schubert
    Franz Schubert
    Franz Peter Schubert was an Austrian composer.Although he died at an early age, Schubert was tremendously prolific. He wrote some 600 Lieder, nine symphonies , liturgical music, operas, some incidental music, and a large body of chamber and solo piano music...

    's Piano Trio No. 1
    Piano Trio No. 1 (Schubert)
    The Trio No. 1 in B-flat major for piano, violin, and cello, D. 898, was written by Franz Schubert in 1827. The composer finished the work in 1828, in the last year of his life. It was published in 1836 as Opus 99, eight years after the composer's death....

     and No. 2
    Piano Trio No. 2 (Schubert)
    The Trio No. 2 in E-flat major for piano, violin, and violoncello, D. 929, was one of the last compositions completed by Franz Schubert, dated November 1827. It was published by Probst as opus 100 in late 1828, shortly before the composer's death and first performed at a private party in January...

  • Robert Schumann
    Robert Schumann
    Robert Schumann, sometimes known as Robert Alexander Schumann, was a German composer, aesthete and influential music critic. He is regarded as one of the greatest and most representative composers of the Romantic era....

    's Piano Trio No. 1 in D minor
  • Dmitri Shostakovich
    Dmitri Shostakovich
    Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich was a Soviet Russian composer and one of the most celebrated composers of the 20th century....

    's Piano Trio No. 2 in E minor
  • Bedřich Smetana
    Bedrich Smetana
    Bedřich Smetana was a Czech composer who pioneered the development of a musical style which became closely identified with his country's aspirations to independent statehood. He is thus widely regarded in his homeland as the father of Czech music...

    's Trio for Piano, Violin and Cello
  • Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
    Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
    Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (Russian: Пётр Ильи́ч Чайко́вский ; often "Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky" in English. His names are also transliterated "Piotr" or "Petr"; "Ilitsch", "Il'ich" or "Illyich"; and "Tschaikowski", "Tschaikowsky", "Chajkovskij"...

    's Piano Trio in A minor
    Piano Trio (Tchaikovsky)
    Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's Piano Trio in A minor, Op. 50, was written in Rome between December 1881 and late January 1882. It is subtitled In memory of a great artist, in reference to Nikolai Rubinstein, his close friend and mentor, who had died on 23 March 1881...

    , Op. 50

See also

  • Piano
    Piano
    The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...

  • Violin
    Violin
    The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....

  • Violoncello
  • Piano trio repertoire
    Piano trio repertoire
    Among the fairly large repertoire for the standard piano trio are the following works:Ordering is by surname of composer.-A:* Lev Abeliovich** Piano Trio *Franghiz Ali-Zadeh**Impromptus *Charles-Valentin Alkan...

  • Triple concerto for violin, cello, and piano
    Triple concerto for violin, cello, and piano
    A triple concerto is a concerto for piano trio and orchestra.Below is a list of concertos for piano trio and orchestra. Please see the related entries for violin concerto, cello concerto, piano concerto and double concerto for violin and cello...


  • violin-viola-piano trio
  • Clarinet-violin-piano trio
    Clarinet-violin-piano trio
    A clarinet-violin-piano trio is a standardized chamber musical ensemble made up of one clarinet, one violin, and one piano participating in relatively equal roles, or the name of a piece written for such a group....

  • Clarinet-viola-piano trio
    Clarinet-viola-piano trio
    A clarinet-viola-piano trio is a chamber musical ensemble made up of one clarinet, one viola, and one piano, or the name of a piece written for such a group....

  • Clarinet-cello-piano trio
    Clarinet-cello-piano trio
    A clarinet-cello-piano trio is a chamber musical ensemble made up of one clarinet, one cello, and one piano, or the name of a piece written for such a group.This formation is similar to the classical Piano trio in which the violin is replaced by the clarinet...


  • Piano quartet
    Piano quartet
    In European classical music, piano quartet denotes a chamber music composition for piano and three other instruments, or a musical ensemble comprising such instruments...

  • Piano quintet
    Piano quintet
    In European classical music, a piano quintet is a work of chamber music written for piano and four other instruments, most commonly piano, two violins, viola, and cello . Among the most frequently performed piano quintets are those by Robert Schumann, Johannes Brahms, César Franck, Antonín Dvořák...

  • Piano sextet
    Piano sextet
    A piano sextet is a composition for piano and five other musical instruments, or a group of six musicians who perform such works. There is no standard grouping of instruments with that name, and compared to the string quartet or piano quintet literature, relatively few such compositions exist...

  • Jazz trio
    Jazz trio
    The term "piano trio" in jazz usually refers to a group comprising a pianist, a double bass player and a drummer. The pianist is usually considered the leader of these trios, and trios are usually named after their pianist...

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