Piano Trio No. 2 (Mendelssohn)

External audio
Performed by the Trio Wanderer
I. Allegro energico e con fuoco
II. Andante espressivo
III. Scherzo: Molto allegro quasi presto
IV. Finale: Allegro appassionato

The trio has four movements:

A typical performance lasts just under 30 minutes.

One of Mendelssohn's most notable uses of sonata form, the first movement of the piano trio begins with a stormy texture built on arpeggios in all three voices that call upon Mendelssohn's Hebrides overture and Scottish Symphony. The primary theme of the first movement quotes Mendelessohn's Lieder Ohne Worte (Songs without Words), Op. 102, No. 1. The overall harmonic scheme of the movement moves from the tonic in the primary theme to the mediant in the secondary theme and closes in the dominant.^[1]

The second movement presents a lullaby in the piano, borrowing its rhythmic movement from Mendelssohn's Lieder Ohne Worte, Op. 19, No. 6 ("Venetian Boat Songs"). The gentle entry of the violin and cello on top of the rocking line in the piano turns the movement into a Duett ohne Worte.^[3]

Described by Mendelssohn as "a trifle nasty to play," the scherzo movement follows a rondo design full of imitative passages being passed through the three instruments. Reminiscent of a trifle, the three instruments enter offset by an eighth note in the fast moving line, creating a stacking effect. As seen in Mendelssohn's early scherzi, the playful and wild manner of the movement keeps its high energy until the very end. The high energy of the movement has been likened to that of Mendelssohn's A Midsummer Night's Dream scherzo, while also featuring motives that harken back to the scherzo in Mendelssohn's Octet.^[4] The music abruptly softens, ending on crisp pizzicato chords.^[3]

Regarded as the most famous movement from the trio, the fourth movement of the trio opens with an unusual leap in the cello. A notable feature of the finale of this work is its use of the melody of a chorale. After the introduction of the initial theme, the work quotes Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ, and then expands to also include a sixteenth-century Genevan psalter tune, known in English as Old Hundredth from its association with the Psalm 100 (William Kethe), as the culminating melody.^[5]

• Piano Trio No. 2: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project