A piano trio is a group of piano and two other instruments, usually a

violin The violin, sometimes known as a '' fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone ( string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument ( soprano) in the family in regu ...

and a cello, or a piece of

music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspe ...

written for such a group. It is one of the most common forms found in classical chamber music. 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. The term "piano trio" is also used for jazz trios, where it most commonly designates a pianist accompanied by bass and drums, though guitar or saxophone may figure as well.

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. Mozart, in five late works, is generally credited with transforming the accompanied keyboard sonata, in which the essentially optional cello doubles the bass of the keyboard left hand, into the balanced trio which has since been a central form of chamber music. 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 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 (also ''sonata-allegro form'' or ''first movement form'') is a musical structure generally consisting of three main sections: an exposition, a development, and a recapitulation. It has been used widely since the middle of the 18th c ...

. In the

Classical era Classical antiquity (also the classical era, classical period or classical age) is the period of cultural history between the 8th century BC and the 5th century AD centred on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of ...

, 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 :Compositions for piano trio.

The role of the three instruments

The piano trios of the Classical era, notably those of

Haydn Franz Joseph Haydn ( , ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions to musical form have led ...

, are dominated by the piano part. The violin plays the melody only a certain amount of the time, and when it does, is often doubled by the piano. 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 five late ( K. 496 and later) trios are generally felt to mark the assured arrival of the form, attentive to balanced voices and three-part dialogue. Beethoven's trios continued the compositional objectives inaugurated by Mozart. 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 and piano ( H. 15/15-17), a combination for which

Carl Maria von Weber Carl Maria Friedrich Ernst von Weber (18 or 19 November 17865 June 1826) was a German composer, conductor, virtuoso pianist, guitarist, and critic who was one of the first significant composers of the Romantic era. Best known for his operas, ...

also wrote one work (op. 63). *Beethoven wrote his Trio in G major, WoO 37 (1786) for flute, bassoon and piano. * Mikhail Glinka wrote his ''Trio pathétique'' in D minor for clarinet, bassoon and piano, although is also performed with a violin or cello substituting the clarinet or the bassoon, respectively. * Francis Poulenc's

Trio for oboe, bassoon and piano The ''Trio pour hautbois, basson et piano'' (Trio for oboe, bassoon and piano), FP 43, by Francis Poulenc is a three-movement chamber work, composed between 1924 and 1926, and premiered in the latter year. The trio was well received at its premie ...

op. 43 (1926). *The Horn-violin-piano trio is exemplified by Brahms' Trio Op. 40 in E flat and György Ligeti's 1982 Trio for Violin, Horn and Piano. *Trios with clarinet include masterpieces such as Mozart's ''

Kegelstatt Trio The ''Kegelstatt Trio'', K. 498, is a piano trio for clarinet, viola and piano in E-flat major by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. History Mozart wrote the piano trio on 10 sheets (19 pages) in Vienna and dated the manuscript on 5 August 1786. Accordi ...

'' and works by Beethoven, Brahms and Bartók; many more works are listed in Clarinet-violin-piano trio, Clarinet-viola-piano trio and Clarinet-cello-piano trio. * Ignaz Lachner wrote all of his six piano trios for violin, viola and piano. *The jazz trio formation of saxophone, piano and percussion has been taken up as an alternative "piano trio" in the field of contemporary classical music, initially by Trio Accanto who since 1994 have commissioned more than 100 works for this combination. Several other trios have been formed to perform this repertoire.

Example piano trios, extant and defunct

Among the best known of such groups are or have been: * Altenberg Trio (Austria) * Amatis Trio (the Netherlands) * (Berlin, Germany) * Maria Baptist Trio (Berlin, Germany) * Istomin-Stern-Rose Trio, consisting of

Eugene Istomin Eugene George Istomin (November 26, 1925October 10, 2003) was an American pianist. He was a winner of the Leventritt Award and recorded extensively as a soloist and in a piano trio in which he collaborated with Isaac Stern and Leonard Rose. Car ...

Isaac Stern Isaac Stern (July 21, 1920 – September 22, 2001) was an American violinist. Born in Poland, Stern came to the US when he was 14 months old. Stern performed both nationally and internationally, notably touring the Soviet Union and China, and ...

and Leonard Rose. (United States) *One consisting of Alfred Cortot,

Jacques Thibaud Jacques Thibaud (; 27 September 18801 September 1953) was a French violinist. Biography 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 th ...

and Pablo Casals, earlier in the 20th century *The Spivakovsky Trio, consisting of Jascha Spivakovsky,

Tossy Spivakovsky Nathan "Tossy" Spivakovsky ( – July 20, 1998), a Jewish, Russian Empire-born, German-trained violin virtuoso, was considered one of the greatest violinists of the 20th century. Biography Tossy Spivakovsky was born in Odessa, which in 1906 was ...

and Edmnd Kurtz, earlier in the 20th century * The Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio (United States) *The

Beaux Arts Trio The Beaux Arts Trio was a noted piano trio, celebrated for their vivacity, emotional depth and wide-ranging repertoire. They made their debut on 13 July 1955, at the Berkshire Music Festival, Lenox, Massachusetts, United States, known today as the ...

(United States), whose commitment to using the same players in every concert pioneered a new generation of similarly committed groups; defunct *The Sitkovetsky Trio (United Kingdom) consisting of Alexander Sitkovetsky, Wu Qian and Isang Enders * Trio di Trieste (Italy) consisting of Dario De Rosa, Renato Zanettovich, and Libero Lana/ Amedeo Baldovino; defunct *The "Ax-Kim-Ma" trio, consisting of

Emanuel Ax Emanuel "Manny" Ax (born 8 June 1949) is a Grammy-winning American classical pianist. He is a teacher in the Juilliard School. Early life Ax was born to a Polish-Jewish family in Lviv, Ukraine, (in what was then the Soviet Union) to Joachim and ...

, Young-Uck Kim, and

Yo-Yo Ma Yo-Yo Ma ('' Chinese'': 馬友友 ''Ma Yo Yo''; born October 7, 1955) is an American cellist. Born in Paris to Chinese parents and educated in New York City, he was a child prodigy, performing from the age of four and a half. He graduated from ...

(United States) * Eroica Trio (United States) * Ahn Trio (United States/Korea) *The Borodin Trio (United States) * Trio Fontenay (Germany) * Trio Céleste (United States), consisting of Kevin Kwan Loucks, Iryna Krechkovsky, and Ross Gasworth *

Suk Trio The Suk Trio was a Czech piano trio founded in 1951 and disbanded in 1990. They made their debut on March 5 at the Rudolfinum Hall in Prague with Josef Suk (violin), Jiří Hubička (piano) and Saša Večtomov (cello). The permanent member of t ...

(Czech Republic) *The

Florestan Trio The Florestan Trio was a piano trio. Formed in 1995 in London, England, its members were Anthony Marwood (violin), Richard Lester (cello), and Susan Tomes (piano). Their recording of the first two trios by Robert Schumann, Schumann won the 1999 Gra ...

(United Kingdom) * The Greenwich Trio (United Kingdom) *The

Gryphon Trio The Gryphon Trio is a Canadian classical music ensemble that has been nominated for several and has won three Juno Awards for its classical recordings released by the Analekta label. Its members are Annalee Patipatanakoon (violin), Roman Borys (cel ...

(Canada) *The Oberlin Trio (United States) *The

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 The original founding members of the Alma Trio were Roman Totenberg, violin; Gabor Rejto, cello; a ...

(United States) * Trio Vega (Spain) *The Kandinsky Trio (United States) * Trio Wanderer (France) * Haydn Trio Eisenstadt (Austria): Harald Kosik, Hannes Gradwohl, Bernd Gradwohl/ Verena Stourzh. * Bamberg Trio (Germany) *Petrof Piano Trio (Czech Republic) * Manhattan Piano Trio (United States) * Spirale Piano Trio (Belgium) * Xonor Trio (United States) * Vanic Trio (United States) * Vienna Piano Trio (Austria) * Stuttgart Piano Trio (German)Foto: touring Southern Africa
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The Dutch Trio The Dutch Trio (''Das Holländische Trio'') was a musical ensemble for chamber music, consisting of Coenraad Valentijn Bos (piano), Joseph Maurits van Veen (violin) and Jacques van Lier (cello), that was very successful in Berlin between 1899 an ...

(Germany/The Netherlands)

Famous works for piano trio

* Anton Arensky's Piano Trio No. 1 in D minor * Ludwig van Beethoven's trios, especially Piano Trio No. 7 in B-flat major "Archduke", Op. 97 * Johannes Brahms's Piano Trios No. 1 in B major, Op. 8, No. 2 in C major, Op. 87 and No. 3 in C minor, Op. 101 * Frédéric Chopin's Piano Trio in G minor, Op. 8 * Antonín Dvořák's Piano Trio No. 4 in E minor ("Dumky"), Op. 90 * Gabriel Fauré's piano trio, Op. 120 * Joseph Haydn's 45 piano trios, particularly those composed from the mid-1780s onwards * Franz Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsodies No. 9 and No. 12 * Felix Mendelssohn's two piano trios * Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's piano trios, particularly No. 3, 4 and 5 * Sergei Rachmaninoff's Elegiac Trios No. 1 in G minor and No. 2 in D minor * Maurice Ravel's Trio for Piano, Violin and Cello *

Franz Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short lifetime, Schubert left behind a vast ''oeuvre'', including more than 600 secular vocal wo ...

's Piano Trio No. 1 and No. 2 *

Clara Schumann Clara Josephine Schumann (; née Wieck; 13 September 1819 – 20 May 1896) was a German pianist, composer, and piano teacher. Regarded as one of the most distinguished pianists of the Romantic era, she exerted her influence over the course of a ...

's Piano Trio * Robert Schumann's Piano Trio No. 1 in D minor and Piano Trio No. 3 in G minor * Dmitri Shostakovich's Piano Trio No. 2 in E minor *

Bedřich Smetana Bedřich Smetana ( , ; 2 March 1824 – 12 May 1884) was a Czech composer who pioneered the development of a musical style that became closely identified with his people's aspirations to a cultural and political "revival." He has been regarded i ...

's Trio for Piano, Violin and Cello * Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's Piano Trio in A minor, Op. 50

References