Mendelssohn: Piano Trios, Op. 49 & 66

Album review

A keyboard trio is usually written for the harpsichord, fortepiano or piano,and violin (or flute) and cello. The genre developed in the mid-18thcentury from the so-called Baroque trio sonata and the harpsichord sonata.A trio sonata is a work with three melodic lines or parts played by one, twoor three instruments. Bach, for example, wrote trio sonatas for the organ, inwhich the three melodic lines are played by the right hand, left hand andpedal. The same piece could also be played by two violins or flutes and a bassinstrument (harpsichord, cello or viola da gamba, for instance). The basspart could also be played by two or more instruments together: a melodicinstrument such as the viola da gamba, cello or bassoon, and a chordalinstrument such as the harpsichord, organ or lute. The official name of thebass part is basso continuo, i.e. a bass line which is ever-present, forming thesupporting foundation for the composition as a whole. Another possibilitywas to play one of the upper parts on the violin or flute and the other twoparts on the harpsichord. In this manner the three melodic lines were sharedby two instruments. The harpsichord, which had been the humble servantof instruments with greater aspirations, thus became an equal partner witha fully-fledged role. The technical term for this role is ‘obbligato’, meaningobligatory. This is the general background to one of the most popular genres ofclassical chamber music, the piano trio, as we are familiar with it in the musicof Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert and Mendelssohn.