The Piano Trio No. 2 in

E major E major is a major scale based on E, consisting of the pitches E, F, G, A, B, C, and D. Its key signature has four sharps. Its relative minor is C-sharp minor and its parallel minor is E minor. Its enharmonic equivalent, F-flat maj ...

for

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

, and

cello The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...

, D. 929, was one of the last compositions completed by

Franz Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; ; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical period (music), Classical and early Romantic music, Romantic eras. Despite his short life, Schubert left behind a List of compositions ...

, dated November

1827 Events January–March * January 5 – The first regatta in Australia is held, taking place in Tasmania (called at the time ''Van Diemen's Land''), on the River Derwent at Hobart. * January 15 – Furman University, founded in 1826, b ...

. It was published by Probst as

Opus Opus (: opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera ...

100 in late 1828, shortly before the composer's death and first performed at a private party in January 1828 to celebrate the engagement of Schubert's school-friend Josef von Spaun. The Trio was among the few of his late compositions Schubert heard performed before his death. It was given its first private performance by

Carl Maria von Bocklet Carl Maria von Bocklet (30 November 1801 – 15 July 1881) was a composer, pianist and teacher of music. Bocklet was born in Prague. He studied with Bedřich Diviš Weber and in 1821 he moved to Vienna, where he "created a great stir...throu ...

on the piano,

Ignaz Schuppanzigh Ignaz Schuppanzigh (20 July 1776 – 2 March 1830) was an Austrian violinist and friend of Beethoven, and leader of Count Razumovsky's private string quartet. Schuppanzigh and his quartet premiered many of Beethoven's string quartets, and in par ...

playing the violin, and Josef Linke playing cello. Like Schubert's other piano trio, this is a comparatively larger work than most piano trios of the time, taking almost 50 minutes to perform. The second theme of the first movement is based loosely on the opening theme of the Minuet and Trio of Schubert's G major sonata (D. 894). Scholar Christopher H. Gibbs asserts direct evidence of Beethoven's influence on the Trio. The main theme of the second movement was used as one of the central musical themes in

Stanley Kubrick Stanley Kubrick (; July 26, 1928 – March 7, 1999) was an American filmmaker and photographer. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, Stanley Kubrick filmography, his films were nearly all adaptations of novels or sho ...

's 1975 film ''

Barry Lyndon ''Barry Lyndon'' is a 1975 epic historical drama film written, directed, and produced by Stanley Kubrick, based on the 1844 novel '' The Luck of Barry Lyndon'' by William Makepeace Thackeray. Narrated by Michael Hordern, and starring Ryan O'N ...

''. It has also been used in a number of other films, including '' The Hunger'', '' Crimson Tide'', '' The Piano Teacher'', '' L'Homme de sa vie'', ''

Land of the Blind ''Land of the Blind'' is a 2006 British-American Drama (film and television), drama film starring Ralph Fiennes, Donald Sutherland, Tom Hollander and Lara Flynn Boyle. ''Land of the Blind'' is a dark political satire, based on several incidents t ...

'', '' Recollections of the Yellow House'', ''

The Way He Looks ''The Way He Looks'' () is a 2014 Brazilian coming-of-age romantic drama film written and directed by Daniel Ribeiro, based on his 2010 short film '' I Don't Want to Go Back Alone'' (''Eu Não Quero Voltar Sozinho''). The film stars Ghilherme L ...

'', '' The Mechanic'', ''

Miss Julie ''Miss Julie'' () is a naturalistic play written in 1888 by August Strindberg. It is set on Midsummer's Eve and the following morning, which is Midsummer and the Feast Day of St. John the Baptist. The setting is an estate of a count in Sweden. ...

'', '' The Congress'', the

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miniseries ''

John Adams John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Before Presidency of John Adams, his presidency, he was a leader of ...

'', the FX miniseries ''

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'', two episodes of ''

American Crime Story ''American Crime Story'' is an American biographical crime drama anthology television series developed by Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski, who are also executive producers, alongside Brad Falchuk, Nina Jacobson, Ryan Murphy, and Bra ...

'', as the opening piece for the ABC documentary '' The Killing Season'', used throughout the BBC documentary '' Auschwitz: The Nazis and 'The Final Solution''', and in the 2023 biographical film, '' Dance First'', about Irish playwright

Samuel Beckett Samuel Barclay Beckett (; 13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989) was an Irish writer of novels, plays, short stories, and poems. Writing in both English and French, his literary and theatrical work features bleak, impersonal, and Tragicomedy, tra ...

. The autograph has been preserved since 1955 in a private collection in Switzerland.

Structure

The

piano trio A piano trio is a group of piano and two other instruments, usually a violin and a cello, or a piece of music written for such a group. It is one of the most common forms found in European classical music, classical chamber music. The term can also ...

contains four

movements Movement may refer to: Generic uses * Movement (clockwork), the internal mechanism of a timepiece * Movement (sign language), a hand movement when signing * Motion, commonly referred to as movement * Movement (music), a division of a larger c ...

I. Allegro

The first movement is in

sonata form The sonata form (also sonata-allegro form or first movement form) is a musical form, musical structure generally consisting of three main sections: an exposition, a development, and a recapitulation. It has been used widely since the middle of t ...

. There is disagreement over the break-up of thematic material with one source claiming six separate units of thematic material while another source divides them into three themes each with two periods. There is to an extent extra thematic material during the recapitulation. At least one of the thematic units is based closely on the opening theme of the third movement of the earlier Piano Sonata in G major, D 894. The

development section The 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 centu ...

focuses mainly on the final theme of the

exposition Exposition (also the French for exhibition) may refer to: *Universal exposition or World's Fair *Expository writing *Exposition (narrative), background information in a story * Exposition (music) *Trade fair * ''Exposition'' (album), the debut alb ...

II. Andante con moto

The second movement takes an asymmetrical double

ternary form Ternary form, sometimes called song form, is a three-part musical form consisting of an opening section (A), a following section (B) and then a repetition of the first section (A). It is usually schematized as A–B–A. Prominent examples inclu ...

. The principal theme is inspired by the Swedish folk song '' Se solen sjunker'', which the composer had heard in the Fröhlich sisters' house, sung by the tenor Isak Albert Berg.

III. Scherzo: Allegro moderato

The

scherzo A scherzo (, , ; plural scherzos or scherzi), in western classical music, is a short composition – sometimes a movement from a larger work such as a symphony or a sonata. The precise definition has varied over the years, but scherzo often r ...

is an animated piece in standard double ternary form.

IV. Allegro moderato

The finale is in

sonata rondo form Sonata rondo form is a musical form often used during the Classical and Romantic music eras. As the name implies, it is a blend of sonata and rondo forms. Structure Sonata and rondo forms Rondo form involves the repeated use of a theme ...

. Schubert also includes in two interludes the opening theme of the second movement in an altered version. Schubert also made some cuts in this finale, one of which includes the second-movement theme combined contrapuntally with other material from the finale.

Discography

Rudolf Serkin Rudolf Serkin (28 March 1903 – 8 May 1991) was a Bohemian-born Austrian-American pianist. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest Beethoven interpreters of the 20th century. Early life, childhood debut, and education Serkin was born in ...

Adolf Busch Adolf Georg Wilhelm Busch (8 August 1891 – 9 June 1952) was a German-Swiss violinist, conductor, and composer. Life and career Busch was born in Siegen in Westphalia. He studied at the Cologne Conservatory with Willy Hess and Bram Eldering. ...

and Hermann Busch, 1935. *

Leonard Rose Leonard Joseph Rose (July 27, 1918 – November 16, 1984) was an American cellist and pedagogue. Biography Rose was born in Washington, D.C. His parents were Jewish immigrants, his father from Bragin, Belarus, and his mother from Kyiv, ...

Isaac Stern Isaac Stern (July 21, 1920 – September 22, 2001) was an American violinist. Born in Ukraine, Stern moved to the United States when he was 14 months old. Stern performed both nationally and internationally, notably touring the Soviet Union a ...

and

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. Care ...

, 1969. * George Janzer,

Arthur Grumiaux Baron Arthur Grumiaux (; 21 March 1921 – 16 October 1986) was a Belgian violinist, considered by some to have been "one of the few truly great violin virtuosi of the twentieth century". He has been noted for having a "consistently beautiful t ...

and Eva Czako. *

Maurice Gendron Maurice Gendron (26 December 1920, near Nice20 August 1990, Grez-sur-Loing) was a French cello, cellist, conductor and teacher. He is widely considered one of the greatest cellists of the 20th century. He was an Officer of the Legion of Honor and a ...

Yehudi Menuhin Yehudi Menuhin, Baron Menuhin (22 April 191612 March 1999), was an American-born British violinist and conductor who spent most of his performing career in Britain. He is widely considered one of the greatest violinists of the 20th century. ...

and

Hephzibah Menuhin Hephzibah Menuhin (20 May 19201 January 1981) was an American-Australian pianist, writer, and human rights campaigner. She was sister to the violinist Yehudi Menuhin and to the pianist, painter, and poet Yaltah Menuhin. She was also a linguist ...

. *

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 ...

(

Menahem Pressler Menahem Pressler (; 16 December 1923 – 6 May 2023) was a German-born Israeli-American pianist and academic teacher. He was known for his work with the Beaux Arts Trio that he co-founded in 1955, playing until its dissolution in 2008, in hund ...

, Daniel Guilet and

Bernard Greenhouse Bernard Greenhouse (January 3, 1916 – May 13, 2011) was an American cellist and one of the founding members of the Beaux Arts Trio. Life and career Greenhouse was born in Newark, New Jersey and began playing the cello at the age of eight. He ...

), 1966. * The Mozartean Players (

Steven Lubin Steven Lubin (born 1942) is an American pianist and musical scholar. He is best known for his performances on the fortepiano, the early version of the piano. Studies Lubin was born in Brooklyn, New York City. He studied piano with Lisa Grad, ...

Stanley Ritchie Stanley Ritchie, an Australian violinist born in 1935, is a Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Violin at Jacobs School of Music, Indiana University. A noted specialist in historical performance, Ritchie is author of two relevant books, ‘Before ...

and Myron Lutzke), 1992 (played on period instruments, both versions of the last movement). *

Anner Bylsma Anner Bylsma (born Anne Bijlsma; 17 February 1934 – 25 July 2019) was a Dutch cellist who played on both modern and period instruments in a historically informed style. He took an interest in music from an early age. He studied with Carel van ...

, Vera Beths and

Jos van Immerseel Jos Van Immerseel (born 9 November 1945) is a Belgian harpsichordist, pianist and Conducting, conductor. Van Immerseel studied Pipe organ, organ, piano and harpsichord at the Antwerp Conservatory under Flor Peeters, Eugène Traey and harpsicho ...

, 1996 (played on period instruments). * Imogen Cooper, Raphael Oleg and Sonia Wieder-Atherton, 2002. *

Trio Wanderer The Trio Wanderer is a French piano trio made up of Vincent Coq, piano, Jean-Marc Phillips-Varjabédian, violin, and Raphaël Pidoux, cello, who graduated from the Conservatoire de Paris. In 1988 they won the ARD International Music Competition ...

(Vincent Coq, Jean-Marc Phillips-Varjabédian and Raphaël Pidoux). * Trio Dali (

Jack Liebeck Jack Liebeck (born 4 August 1980) is a British–German violinist. In 2010, he won a Classical Brit in the young British classical performer category. He was soloist on the score for the 2011 film ''Jane Eyre'', directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga an ...

, Christian-Pierre La Marca and

Amandine Savary Amandine Savary is a French pianist born in February 1984 in Bayeux, Calvados. Biography Amandine Savary began with her piano studies at the conservatory in Caen where she graduated with honours. In 2003 she joined the Royal Academy of Music o ...

), 2011. * Viviana Sofronitsky, László Paulik, Sergei Istomin, 2011 (played on period instruments). * Trio Gaspard (Jonian Ilias Kadesha, Vashti Hunter, Nicholas Rimmer), Live in Berlin, 2018. * Trio Marie Soldat (Cecilia Bernardini, Keiko Shichijo and Marcus van den Munckhof), 2019 (played on period instruments). *

Erich Höbarth The given name Eric, Erich, Erikk, Erik, Erick, Eirik, or Eiríkur is derived from the Old Norse name ''Eiríkr'' (or ''Eríkr'' in Old East Norse due to monophthongization). The first element, ''ei-'' may be derived from the older Proto-Nor ...

Alexander Rudin Alexander Israilevich Rudin (; born 1960) is a Russian classical cellist and conductor. Biography and career Rudin was born in 1960, in Moscow, and he studied piano and cello at the Gnessin Institute before later studying conducting at the Mo ...

Aapo Häkkinen Aapo Häkkinen is a Finnish harpsichordist and conductor. Biography and career Aapo Häkkinen was born in Helsinki, Finland, and began studying harpsichord at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki at the age of 13. He later studied with Bob van Aspe ...

, 2019 (played on period instruments). * Busch Trio (Mathieu van Bellen, Ori Epstein and Omri Epstein), 2020. *

Noah Bendix-Balgley Noah Bendix-Balgley (born July 15, 1984) is an American classical violinist. He is currently First Concertmaster with the Berliner Philharmoniker. He served as concertmaster of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra from 2011 to 2014. Biography and ...

Peter Wiley Peter Wiley (born 1955) is a cellist and cello teacher. He entered the Curtis Institute of Music at 13 years of age, where he studied with David Soyer. He was then appointed principal cellist of the Cincinnati Symphony at age 20, after one yea ...

, and Robert Levin (both versions of the last movement). *

Christian Tetzlaff Christian Tetzlaff (born 29 April 1966) is a German violinist who has performed internationally, with a focus on chamber music. Biography Tetzlaff was born in Hamburg. His parents were amateur musicians and met in a church choir. He began playi ...

Tanja Tetzlaff Tanja Tetzlaff (born 1973) is a German cellist. She played first as an orchestra member, but then as a soloist, a founding member of the Tetzlaff Quartet, a string quartet led by her brother Christian Tetzlaff, and as a chamber musician. She has ...

, and

Lars Vogt Lars Vogt (8 September 1970 – 5 September 2022) was a German classical pianist, conductor and academic teacher. Noted by ''The New York Times'' for his interpretations of Johannes Brahms, Brahms, Vogt performed as a soloist with major orchestr ...

, 2023.

References

External links

* * * * {{Authority control Piano trios by Franz Schubert 1827 compositions Compositions in E-flat major