Piano Trio No.3 in G minor Op.110

The
Trio made a tremendous impression. It is original, abounding with
passion, especially the Scherzo, which carries one along into the
wildest depths. O how fortunate do I consider myself that heaven has
provided me with the sense and sensibility to entirely grasp this
spirit and this mind. So
wrote Schumann’s wife Clara in her diary after the first
performance of tonight’s Trio at one of the Schumann house music
nights. Despite Clara’s enthusiastic reaction, this Trio more or
less fell out of the repertoire until quite recently. There was a
school of thought that derided Schumann’s late works as examples of
his creative decline before his incarceration in Endenich Asylum in
1854. This careless criticism also affected the magnificent A minor
and D minor Violin Sonatas written that same autumn, a judgement that
is incomprehensible when you listen to the music. The composer’s
Bicentennial celebrations are a good time to put this distinctive
work back in the limelight where it belongs.
The
surging passion of the Trio’s opening Allegro is held together by
the constantly intertwining parts of the violin and cello, the music
rising and falling as if searching for some unattainable goal. This
mood is briefly lightened by the more lyrical second theme.The
composer’s fascination with this intricate counterpoint takes an
unusual turn in a strange passage in the development where the cello
suddenly sets off with a mysterious pizzicato idea that launches an
extended passage where short motifs echo around the instruments as if
one of his more eccentric Carnaval characters has wandered in from
another world. Gradually however the main theme slyly re-emerges from
the web of pizzicatos and the music returns seemingly unaffected to
its earlier path
The
slow movement is indescribably beautiful, opening with a long, deeply
expressive duet for the violin and cello that reminds us fleetingly
of the first movement’s lyrical second subject. In time-honoured
fashion the central section is both darker and more dramatic until
the song returns with, at last, the piano playing a full part in the
singing.
The
agitated Scherzo is short and fiery though it is hard to see why
Clara picked it out ahead of the other movements. There are two
Trios, the first in the major has a delightful syncopated melody
rising step by step until its tension is released in a little group
of semi-quavers. The second trio is a brief
march-like interlude balanced by a gentle figure in triplets. Both
Trios re-appear in the Finale, whose main theme recalls the
impassioned yearning of the first two movements thus threading
together for the last time the many moods of this once under-rated
work.