The Piano Trio in B major, Op. 8, by Johannes Brahms was
composed during 1854. The composer produced a revised version of the work in
1889.[1][2]
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 version that we hear performed today. It is also among the large
multi-movement works to begin in a
major key and end in the tonic minor; another being Mendelssohn's
Italian Symphony.
The trio is in four movements:
- Allegro con
brio
- Scherzo
- Adagio
- Allegro
● First
movement
This movement is a sonata form movement in B major, with a broad theme that
begins in the cello and piano and builds in intensity. It is counterpoised by a
more delicate anacrustic second theme in G
sharp minor. This theme appeared only in the second version of the trio,
replacing a more complex group of themes and a fugal section in the first
version.
●
Second movement
The B minor scherzo combines delicate filigree passages with fortissimo
outbursts. The exuberant mood of the first movement returns in the trio
section. A tierce de picardie sets the scene for the Adagio. The only
alterations Brahms applied to this movement in his revision of the work were a
doubling of the climactic trio melody in the cello, and a reworking of the
coda.
● Third
movement
This movement, returning to B major, opens with a spacious chordal theme in
the piano, counterpoised by a middle section in which the cello plays a poignant
G sharp minor melody making use of chromaticism. In the first version, a
different second theme was used, and an Allegro section was included near the
end of the movement.
●
Fourth movement
Back in B minor, the first theme of this movement is highly chromatic and
slightly ambiguous tonally, with a very agitated dotted rhythm. This is perhaps
the movement Brahms altered the most between the two versions, with the cello's
original smooth second theme in F sharp major being replaced by a more vigorous
arpeggiated piano theme in D major which bears a striking resemblance to "The
Star-Spangled Banner"—perhaps a tribute to the fact that the work had been
premiered in 1855 not in Europe but in Dodsworth's Hall, New York City.[3]
After a B major episode recalling the mood of the first movement, the music
returns to minor and ends very turbulently.
●
References
- ^
IMSLP; yes, published in 1891, but premiered in early
January 1890. Brahms wrote to Clara on September 3 1889
that he had rewritten his B major trio. See notes to Kennedy Center performance.
- ^
Conrad Wilson: Notes on Brahms: 20 Crucial
Works (Edinboro, Saint Andrew Press: 2005) p. 8
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