In music, a trio (from the Italian) is any of the following:
A trio is a composition for three performers or musical parts. Works include Baroque trio sonatas, choral works for three parts, and works for three instruments such as string trios.
In the trio sonata, a popular genre of the 17th and early 18th century, two melodic instruments are accompanied by a basso continuo, making three parts in all. But because the basso continuo is usually played by two instruments (typically a cello or bass viol and a keyboard instrument such as the harpsichord), performances of trio sonatas typically involve four musicians. However there are also examples for a single performer such as Bach's Organ Sonatas or Trios, BWV 525–30 for two hands and a pair of feet, and also for two performers, such as his Violin Sonatas, Viol Sonatas and Flute Sonata, in which the harpsichordist's right hand performs a melodic part.
In vocal music with or without accompaniment, the term terzet is sometimes preferred to "trio". [1]
From the 17th century onward, trio has been used to describe a contrasting second or middle dance appearing between two statements of a principal dance, such as a minuet or bourrée. This second dance was originally called a trio because of the 17th-century practice of scoring it for three instruments, and later examples continued to be referred to as trios, even when they involved a larger number of parts. [2] The Menuet of Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 1 (1721) is a late nod to the original practice, with trios for two oboes and bassoon as well as two horns and a third part played by three oboes in unison.
Derived from the compositions, trio often denotes a group of three solo instruments or voices. [2] The most common types of such compositions are the piano trio of typically piano, violin and cello, and the string trio of commonly violin, viola and cello. [3]
Other types of trio include [ citation needed ]:
In music, a quartet is an ensemble of four singers or instrumental performers.
The viola d'amore is a 7- or 6-stringed musical instrument with additional sympathetic strings used chiefly in the baroque period. It is played under the chin in the same manner as the violin.
The trio sonata is a genre, typically consisting of several movements, with two melody instruments and basso continuo. It originated in the early 17th century and was a favorite chamber ensemble combination in the Baroque era.
Arnold Atkinson Cooke was a British composer, a pupil of Paul Hindemith. He wrote a considerable amount of chamber music, including five string quartets and many instrumental sonatas, much of which is only now becoming accessible through modern recordings. Cooke also composed two operas, six symphonies and several concertos.
Stefans Grové was a South African composer. Before his death the following assessment was made of him: "He is regarded by many as Africa's greatest living composer, possesses one of the most distinctive compositional voices of our time".
Donald Henry Kay AM is an Australian classical composer.
Giovanni Benedetto Platti was born possibly 9 July 1697 in Padua, then belonging to Venice. He was an Italian Baroque composer and oboist. He died 11 January 1763 in Würzburg.
Gary Alan Kulesha is a Canadian composer, pianist, conductor, and educator. Since 1995, he has been Composer Advisor to the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. He has been Composer-in-Residence with the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony (1988–1992) and the Canadian Opera Company (1993–1995). He was awarded the National Arts Centre Orchestra Composer Award in 2002.
The trumpet repertoire consists of solo literature and orchestral or, more commonly, band parts written for the trumpet. Tracings its origins to 1500 BC, the trumpet is a musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family.
Jörg Duda is a German composer of classical music.
Will Gay Bottje was an American composer known for his contributions to electronic music.
Graham Whettam was an English post-romantic composer.