Mendelssohn’s Piano Trio No. 1 in d minor, Op. 49
Back in the days when Compact Discs were king, I regularly purchased selections from BMG’s monthly classical catalog. Among the many CDs I collected, one became a favorite of mine: “Mendelssohn: Piano Trios, Opp. 49 & 66,” which featured violinist Isaac Stern, cellist Leonard Rose, and pianist Eugene Istomin. Half of the recording is the Piano Trio No. 1 in d minor, Op. 49 by Felix Mendelssohn, a work to be performed on our upcoming D’León Piano Quintet concert, It is a composition is filled with both genius and beauty.
The first movement opens with rising deep cello lines accompanied by the piano, soon answered by Isaac Stern’s singing violin. I love how the piano flows with passionate arpeggios and long runs underneath the sustained, staccato, and tremolo lines of the strings. This first section gains stormy energy that reminds me of an incoming monsoon. It then rapidly calms to make room for a “sing-songy” (I’m sure that’s the technical term) second theme. Later, after a little bit more storminess, the music starts to play around with the two very contrasting thematic ideas – pitting storminess against lyricism.
Mendelssohn wrote this first movement in what the music world calls the Sonata form. In a Sonata form, we call the introduction of the two thematic areas the Exposition. The “playing around” of the material that follows the Exposition is called the Development.
After a bit of throwing around snippets of the opening material in new and interesting ways(again, in the Development section), the original thematic material returns (in the Recapitulation section), but in ways that perhaps seem a bit more evolved. As a composer, I imagine thematic elements of music as personified characters walking a journey through the movement. We meet these characters in the Exposition, perhaps as young adults. Then, in the Development section, these musical elements travel to and spend time in “foreign countries”, where maybe they experience new cuisines, customs, and ideas. When our musical themes return home from their travels, they have grown in character because of their experiences. At the very least, as a listener, we hear the original thematic materials in a context that reflects our experiences within the Development section. In the hands of a master composer (such as Mendelssohn), the music is altered to reflect some of that character growth.
In this movement’s Recapitulation, at least as presented by Isaac Stern and friends, I hear more triumph and strength within the re-presentation of the opening thematic material. And as if that is not enough, Mendelssohn adds a Coda – new material presented at the end of the movement – that steps up the excitement one more notch for the movement’s conclusion. The dramatic ending of the first movement offers strong contrast to the gentle opening bars of the second movement (which reminds me of Mendelssohn’s style of writing in his piano collections entitled Song Without Words).
Listen below to Isaac Stern’s and friends’ interpretation of the first movement of Piano Trio No. 1. I imagine you hearing a real evolution of the two opening themes through the playful development and into the climatic closing. And I am convinced you will find this work absolutely gorgeous and worth hearing live as performed by James D’León, Grace Nakano, and Ruthie Wilde.
– Henry Flurry, Executive Director
Piano Trio No. 1 in D Minor, Op. 49: I. Molto allegro ed agitato
by Felix Mendelssohn
Isaac Stern, violin
Leonard Rose, cello
Eugene Istomin, piano
(9 minutes)
Analyzing in order to Compose
I am more familiar with Mendelssohn’s Piano Trio No. 1 in d minor than a lot of other music. Decades ago I spent much time studying it when I was composing a piano trio for piano, oboe, and French horn. By analyzing a favorite work, one can try to appreciate what “paths” a composer takes to create a masterpiece, and thus hopefully learn to apply similar paths in creating a new work. What is the relationships of the harmonies and key areas he used? What phrase lengths? What are the characteristics of the melodic material and accompaniment figures? How do the different thematic areas relate and contrast? When is the orchestration changed? And so on.
I never finished the work, and I probably never will, because my style has evolved significantly since then. While I had the melodic and harmonic language down pretty well, in retrospect the music I wrote was a bit frenetic. I still remember how my teacher of many years, Marianne Ploger, teased me about the work-in-progress: “Oh! You’re now writing like Mendelssohn…. when he was 13!” She probably was right, and I was a bit chagrinned, but many years later I came to interpret that comment as a strong complement.
The Piano Trio No. 1 in d minor taught me many things. If you are a music theory geek, it is worth diving into analysis of the Trio’s first movement to see how it ingeniously breaks from many traditions associated with the Sonata form. Otherwise, please do not worry: it does not take a music theory degree to appreciate the rich and beautiful journey this piece offers.
– Henry Flurry, Executive Director
