F. Mendelssohn - Piano Trio No. 2 in C Minor, Op. 66

Mendelssohn

(1809~1847) 

 

Piano Trio No. 2 in c minor, op. 66

Marinus Ensemble

            

Felix Mendelssohn's Piano Trio No. 2 in C minor, Op. 66 was composed in 1845 and published in

February 1846.  The work is scored for a standard piano trio consisting of violin, cello and piano. Mendelssohn dedicated the work to the violinist Louis Spohr, who played through the piece with the composer at least once.

 

The trio has four movements:

1. Allegro energico e con fuoco (C minor)
2. Andante espressivo (E-flat major)
3. Scherzo: Molto allegro quasi presto (G minor)
4. Finale: Allegro appassionato (C minor, ending in C major)

A typical performance lasts just under 30 minutes

 

Brian Woods, piano
William Herzog, violin
Genevieve Tabby, cello

                       

A notable feature of the finale of this work is its use of the melody of a chorale taken from the sixteenth-century Genevan psalter Vor deinen Thron tret ich hiermit, also known as Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ, as the culminating melody. The tune is known in English as Old Hundredth from its association with the 100th Psalm and is commonly sung to the lyrics "Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow."

The opening theme of the finale was adopted by Brahms for the Scherzo of his Piano Sonata No. 3, Op. 5, and Brahms also used the opening of the first movement of this trio as the basis for the piano line in the finale of his Piano Quartet No. 3 in C minor, Op. 60.