Lars Vogt, Christian and Tanja Tetzlaff: piano trios

Antonín Dvořák – Third trio for piano, violin and cello in F Minor opus 65

Dvořák composed the Third Trio for piano, violin and cello in F Minor opus 35 in early 1883 a short time before his mother's death. This piece displays to a great extent the influence of Brahms especially with the dark tonality in F Minor taken from the Quintet for piano opus 34 and the Second Trio opus 87 that Dvořák had just come to discover.

The density and the drama of the writing bring forth a symphonic dimension seen during the ample first movement in the shape of a sonata. The Scherzo brandishes an opposition between the ostinato of the strings' rhythm and the Bohemian dance pattern in binary played by the piano. The slow movement Poco Adagio takes the shape of a quiet and solemn meditation where the contrapuntal writing becomes close-knit with several motifs circulating back in forth between the three instruments. Despite its seemingly lightheartedness, the final Rondo possesses a threatening background which can be heard in its strong rhythmic ambiguity.

Johannes Brahms – Second trio in C Major opus 87

As often during Brahms' creative process, the genesis of the Second trio in C Major opus 87 was slow and difficult. Two years were necessary between the initial bold and Beethovenian Allegro and the three following movement completed in June 1882. The numerous motifs present in these movements are of an exceptional variety. The popular theme of the Andante con moto is the basis for a series of five variations occurring right before the Scherzo in C Major dashes in, sinister and ghostly. The robustness of the Final which combines a sonata with a rondo evokes the first movement by the sincerity of its build.

© Photo: Patrick Berger