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2023-11-25T23:09:57Z

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{{Infobox musical composition
| name = Piano Trio in C minor
| subtitle = No. 3
| composer = [[Johannes Brahms]]
| image = Die Gartenlaube (1880) 221.jpg
| image_upright = 0.8
| caption = The composer in 1880
| key = [[C minor]]
| opus = 101
| dedication =
| composed = 1886
| performed =
| published = 1887
| publisher =
| movements = Four
| scoring =
}}

The '''Piano Trio No. 3''' in [[C minor]], [[opus number|Op.]] 101, by [[Johannes Brahms]] is scored for [[piano]], [[violin]] and [[cello]], and was written in the summer of 1886 while Brahms was on holiday in Hofstetten, Switzerland. It was premiered on 20 December of that year by Brahms, violinist [[Jenő Hubay]], and cellist [[David Popper]].<ref>Clive, ''Brahms and His World:A Biographical Dictionary'', p. xxvii, xxviii,xxix</ref>

== Structure ==

The trio is in four movements:
{{ordered list|list_style_type=upper-roman
|''[[Tempo#Italian tempo markings|Allegro]] energico''
:'''C minor, [[sonata form]]'''. Orrin Howard calls this movement "unrelentingly compulsive,"<ref>[https://www.laphil.com/musicdb/pieces/4171/the-piano-trios LA Phil, The Piano Trios]</ref> and James Keller say the first theme "springs into action with a furious outburst, rather in the mode of a [[Ludwig van Beethoven|Beethovenian]] eruption," which is balanced by the "aristocratic poise" of the second theme.<ref>[https://www.sfsymphony.org/Data/Event-Data/Program-Notes/M/Brahms-Trio-in-C-minor-for-Violin,-Cello,-and-Pian SF Symphony, Brahms: Trio in C minor for Violin, Cello, and Piano, Opus 101]</ref> The entire movement is organized with terse economy. Brahms’s friend Heinrich von Herzogenberg wrote, "Smaller men will hardly trust themselves to proceed so laconically without forfeiting some of what they have to say."<ref>[https://www.sfsymphony.org/Data/Event-Data/Program-Notes/M/Brahms-Trio-in-C-minor-for-Violin,-Cello,-and-Pian SF Symphony, Brahms: Trio in C minor for Violin, Cello, and Piano, Opus 101]</ref>
|''[[Tempo#Italian tempo markings|Presto]] non assai''
:'''C minor, [[ternary form]]'''. This movement takes the form of an [[intermezzo]], in place of the traditional [[scherzo]] and [[trio (music)|trio]]. Keller calls this a "mere will-o’-wisp of a scherzo."<ref>[https://www.sfsymphony.org/Data/Event-Data/Program-Notes/M/Brahms-Trio-in-C-minor-for-Violin,-Cello,-and-Pian SF Symphony, Brahms: Trio in C minor for Violin, Cello, and Piano, Opus 101]</ref> Hoard writes: "It is a peculiar little movement, hypnotic as it continually reflects its motivic and rhythmic ideas, until we are almost shocked to discover that time has passed."<ref>[https://www.laphil.com/musicdb/pieces/4171/the-piano-trios LA Phil, The Piano Trios]</ref>
|''[[Tempo#Italian tempo markings|Andante]] grazioso''
:'''C major, ternary form'''. This movement involves the use of alternating time signatures: {{music|time|3|4}} and {{music|time|2|4}}, as well as {{music|time|9|8}} and {{music|time|6|8}}. Keller writes: "With the third movement we turn to an ultra-familiar Brahmsian landscape: an intermezzo, characteristically marked Andante grazioso. But where most Brahms intermezzos are calm and consoling, perhaps dreamy, this one may leave listeners feeling uneasy in a way that may seem hard to pin down."<ref>[https://www.sfsymphony.org/Data/Event-Data/Program-Notes/M/Brahms-Trio-in-C-minor-for-Violin,-Cello,-and-Pian SF Symphony, Brahms: Trio in C minor for Violin, Cello, and Piano, Opus 101]</ref>
|''[[Tempo#Italian tempo markings|Allegro]] molto''
:'''C minor, sonata form'''. Ends in C major. Howard calls this movement "rhythmically intense,"<ref>[https://www.laphil.com/musicdb/pieces/4171/the-piano-trios LA Phil, The Piano Trios]</ref> and Keller writes, "By now we will understand that this piano trio is to a large extent “about” rhythmic variety, and the finale carries that idea through to the end through an abundance of hemiolas (i.e. brief passages of duple against triple meter), falsely placed accents, and cross-rhythms."<ref>[https://www.sfsymphony.org/Data/Event-Data/Program-Notes/M/Brahms-Trio-in-C-minor-for-Violin,-Cello,-and-Pian SF Symphony, Brahms: Trio in C minor for Violin, Cello, and Piano, Opus 101]</ref>
}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{IMSLP|work=Piano_Trio_No.3,_Op.101_(Brahms,_Johannes)|cname=Piano Trio No. 3}}
* [http://traffic.libsyn.com/gardnermuseum/brahms_op101.mp3 Performance of Piano Trio No. 3] by the [[Claremont Trio]] from the [[Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum]] in [[MP3]] format
* [http://www.kellydeanhansen.com/opus101.html Detailed Listening Guide] using the recording by Trio Opus 8

{{Brahms chamber music}}
{{Johannes Brahms}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Piano trios by Johannes Brahms]]
[[Category:1886 compositions]]
[[Category:Compositions in C minor]]

{{chamber-composition-stub}}

Piano Trio No. 3 (Brahms) - Revision history

imported>Lapisphil: /* Structure */