Piano Trio No. 2 (Schubert)

Last updated
Piano Trio
No. 2
by Franz Schubert
Es-Dur-Trio Schubert.jpg
Autograph of the second movement
Key E-flat major
Catalogue D. 929
Composed1827 (1827)
Published1828 (1828)
Duration50 minutes
Movements4

The Piano Trio No. 2 in E-flat major for piano, violin, and cello, D. 929, was one of the last compositions completed by Franz Schubert, dated November 1827. It was published by Probst as Opus 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. [1] It was given its first private performance by Carl Maria von Bocklet on the piano, Ignaz Schuppanzigh playing the violin, and Josef Linke playing cello.

Contents

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. [2]

The main theme of the second movement was used as one of the central musical themes in Stanley Kubrick's 1975 film Barry Lyndon . 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 , Recollections of the Yellow House , The Way He Looks , The Mechanic , Miss Julie , The Congress , the HBO miniseries John Adams , the FX miniseries Mrs. America , two episodes of American Crime Story , 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.

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

Structure

The piano trio contains four movements:

I. Allegro

The first movement is in sonata form. 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 focuses mainly on the final theme of the exposition.

II. Andante con moto

Principal theme in the second movement Schubert-Op100-2-Andante.png
Principal theme in the second movement

The second movement takes an asymmetrical double ternary form. 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. [3]

III. Scherzo: Allegro moderato

The scherzo is an animated piece in standard double ternary form.

IV. Allegro moderato

The finale is in sonata rondo form. Schubert also includes in two interludes the opening theme of the second movement in an altered version. [4] 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

Related Research Articles

Sonata 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 century.

Binary form is a musical form in 2 related sections, both of which are usually repeated. Binary is also a structure used to choreograph dance. In music this is usually performed as A-A-B-B.

<i>Trout Quintet</i> Piano quintet by Franz Schubert

The Trout Quintet (Forellenquintett) is the popular name for the Piano Quintet in A major, D. 667, by Franz Schubert. The piano quintet was composed in 1819, when he was 22 years old; it was not published, however, until 1829, a year after his death.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Piano Quintet (Schumann)</span> 1842 chamber work by Robert Schumann

The Piano Quintet in E-flat major, Op. 44, by Robert Schumann was composed in 1842 and received its first public performance the following year. Noted for its "extroverted, exuberant" character, Schumann's piano quintet is considered one of his finest compositions and a major work of nineteenth-century chamber music. Composed for piano and string quartet, the work revolutionized the instrumentation and musical character of the piano quintet and established it as a quintessentially Romantic genre.

The Piano Quintet in F minor, Op. 34, by Johannes Brahms was completed during the summer of 1864 and published in 1865. It was dedicated to Her Royal Highness Princess Anna of Hesse. As with most piano quintets composed after Robert Schumann's Piano Quintet (1842), it is written for piano and string quartet.

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.

Cyclic form is a technique of musical construction, involving multiple sections or movements, in which a theme, melody, or thematic material occurs in more than one movement as a unifying device. Sometimes a theme may occur at the beginning and end ; other times a theme occurs in a different guise in every part.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cello Sonata No. 3 (Beethoven)</span> Composition for cello and piano by Ludwig van Beethoven

The Cello Sonata No. 3 in A major, Op. 69, is the third of five cello sonatas by Ludwig van Beethoven. He composed it in 1807–08, during his productive middle period. It was first performed in 1809 by cellist Nikolaus Kraft and pianist Dorothea von Ertmann, a student of Beethoven. Published by Breitkopf & Härtel the same year, it was dedicated to Freiherr Ignaz von Gleichenstein, Beethoven's friend and an amateur cellist. The sonata was successful with audiences from the beginning.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Triple Concerto (Beethoven)</span> Concerto by Ludwig van Beethoven

Ludwig van Beethoven's Concerto for Violin, Cello, and Piano in C major, Op. 56, commonly known as the Triple Concerto, was composed in 1803 and published in 1804 by Breitkopf & Härtel. The choice of the three solo instruments effectively makes this a concerto for piano trio, and it is the only concerto Beethoven ever completed for more than one solo instrument, and also being the only concerto he wrote for cello. A typical performance takes approximately thirty-seven minutes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Piano Trio No. 1 (Schubert)</span>

The Trio No. 1 in B-flat major for piano, violin, and cello, D. 898, was written by Franz Schubert in 1827. The composer finished the work in 1828, in the last year of his life. It was published in 1836 as Opus 99, eight years after the composer's death. Like the E-flat major trio, it is an unusually large scale work for piano trio, taking around 40 minutes in total to perform.

The Piano Sonata in A minor D. 845 (Op.42) by Franz Schubert is a sonata for solo piano. Composed in May 1825 and entitled Premiere Grande Sonata, it is the first of three sonatas published during the composer's lifetime, the others being D.850 and D.894. Conceived as a set, these works were composed during what was reportedly a period of relatively good health and spirits for Schubert, and are praised for their quality and ambition. This first sonata in particular marks a significant step toward the composer’s mature piano sonata style; the format and several characteristic stylistic elements continue through the last.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Piano Trio No. 1 (Mendelssohn)</span>

Felix Mendelssohn's Piano Trio No. 1 in D minor, Op. 49, was completed on 23 September 1839 and published the following year. The work is scored for a standard piano trio consisting of violin, cello and piano. It is one of Mendelssohn's most popular chamber works and is recognized as one of his greatest along with his Octet, Op. 20. During the initial composition of the work, Mendelssohn took the advice of fellow composer Ferdinand Hiller to revise the piano part. Hiller wrote, "with his usual conscientious earnestness when once he had made up his mind, he undertook the length and rewrite the whole pianoforte part."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Schubert's last sonatas</span> Compositions by Franz Schubert

Franz Schubert's last three piano sonatas, D 958, 959 and 960, are his last major compositions for solo piano. They were written during the last months of his life, between the spring and autumn of 1828, but were not published until about ten years after his death, in 1838–39. Like the rest of Schubert's piano sonatas, they were mostly neglected in the 19th century. By the late 20th century, however, public and critical opinion had changed, and these sonatas are now considered among the most important of the composer's mature masterpieces. They are part of the core piano repertoire, appearing regularly on concert programs and recordings.

The Piano Sonata in E major, D 157 is a piano sonata with three movements composed by Franz Schubert in February 1815. The Allegro D 154 is an early version of its first movement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Piano Quartet No. 3 (Brahms)</span> Piano Quartet by Johannes Brahms

The Piano Quartet No. 3 in C minor, Op. 60, completed by Johannes Brahms in 1875, is scored for piano, violin, viola and cello. It is sometimes called the Werther Quartet after Goethe's The Sorrows of Young Werther. The premiere took place in Vienna on November 18, 1875, to an anxious public. Richard Wagner and his wife Cosima were in attendance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Piano Quartet No. 1 (Brahms)</span>

The Piano Quartet No. 1 in G minor, Op. 25, was composed by Johannes Brahms between 1856 and 1861. It was premiered in 1861 in Hamburg, with Clara Schumann at the piano. It was also played in Vienna on 16 November 1862, with Brahms himself at the piano supported by members of the Hellmesberger Quartet. Like most piano quartets, it is scored for piano, violin, viola, and cello.

Brian Newbould is an English composer, conductor and author who has conjecturally completed Franz Schubert's Symphonies D 708A in D major, No. 7 in E major, No. 8 in B minor ("Unfinished"), No. 10 ("Last") in D major, Piano Sonata in C major, D 840, Quartettsatz, D. 703 and String Trio, D. 471. He was educated at Gravesend Grammar School, and earned a BMus degree with top honors from the University of Bristol.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Symphony, D 708A (Schubert)</span>

Schubert's Symphony in D major, D 708A, is an unfinished work that survives in an incomplete eleven-page sketch written for piano solo. It is one of Schubert's six unfinished symphonies. It was begun in 1820 or 1821, with initial sketches made for the opening sections of the first, second, and fourth movements, and an almost complete sketch for the third movement. He abandoned this symphony after this initial phase of work and never returned to it, although Schubert would live for another seven years. British conductor and composer Brian Newbould, an authority on Schubert's music, has speculated that the symphony was left incomplete due to problems Schubert faced in orchestrating the sketch.

Sonatas, duos and fantasies by Franz Schubert include all works for solo piano by Franz Schubert, except separate dances. They also include a number of works for two players: piano four hands, or piano and a string instrument.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Piano Sonata in B minor (Strauss)</span> Piano sonata composed by Richard Strauss

The Piano Sonata in B minor, Op.5, was written by Richard Strauss in 1881–82 when he was 17 years old. The Sonata is in the Romantic style of his teenage years. The first recording of the piece was the last recording made by the Canadian pianist Glenn Gould.

References

  1. Einstein, Alfred (1951). Schubert: A Musical Portrait. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 277.
  2. Gibbs, Christopher H. (2000). Musical Lives: The Life of Schubert. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 2, 157–60.
  3. Christopher H. Gibbs, Morten Solvik, ed. (2014). Franz Schubert and His World. Princeton University Press. ISBN   9781400865352.
  4. Christiansen, Kai (1997). "Piano Trio No. 2 in E-flat major, Op. 100, D. 929". Earsense.org. Retrieved 12 August 2016.