Johannes Brahms - Piano Trio In A Major Op. Posth.

 

 

Johannes Brahms

(1833~1897) 

 

 

 

 Piano Trio In A Major Op. Posth.

 

 

                     

The Piano Trio in A major, attributed to Johannes Brahms, published posthumously, is scored for piano, violin and cello. Brahms is reported to have destroyed many of his works that did not meet up to his own high standards. one of the rare exceptions to have unintentionally escaped the flames was this piano trio which was discovered and published after the composer's death.

 

 

The trio is in four movements:

1. Moderato (A major)
2. Vivace – Trio (F-sharp minor)
3. Lento (D major)
4. Presto (A major)

 

                   

 

Discovery and Publication

The trio first came to light in 1924 when it was discovered amongst papers musicologist Ernst Bucken had inherited from the Bonn based musical collector Dr. Erich Preiger.^{[1] [2] [3]}

 

Despite the fact that the manuscript lacked a title page and was in the hand of an unknown copyist rather than Brahms' own handwriting, Bucken believed the work was genuine based both on perceived stylistic similarities between the newly discovered work and the Piano Trio in B major, Op. 8 and the fact that it was known from a letter to Schumann that prior to the publication of the B major trio he had composed several others.^[2]

 

The trio was published by Breitkopf & Härtel in 1938, in an edition edited by both Bucken and Karl Hasse.^[3] The original manuscript on which it was based disappeared shortly after publication.^{[1] [3]}

Authorship

Bucken's attribution of the trio to Brahms was challenged a year after publication in an article by Richard Fellinger, who while supporting the attribution bought up the possibility that the trio, which was apparently written in the 1850s, may have been composed by a friend of Brahms, Albert Dietrich.^[3]

 

McClelland notes that while most recent scholarship argues that Brahms did not compose this trio, few alternatives have been offered other than Dietrich.^[3] Christiansen, in his article, notes that while some portions of the trio sound like the work of Brahms, especially the opening theme of the trio portion of the second movement, other portions evoke Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann and even Dvořák and concludes that the trio may be the work either of Brahms at an early stage of his development, or by a talented composer, moving in similar circles to Brahms, who never rose to prominence.^[2]

 

Patricia Parr.. Mayumi Seiler.. David Hetherington

 

What may be interesting is the variation in lyricism and structure of the individual movements. Could Johannes, Robert and Clara have joined in an enterprise to write a trio strictly as "a musical game," rather in the fashion of Mary Shelley, Shelley and Byron during an evening soiree? Interesting, as well, is the definite influence, seemingly, of Rheinberger, especially in the final movement, and this seems no mere coincidence. It is surprising that this connection has never been made. Rheinberger wrote four piano trios.