Ignacy Feliks Dobrzyński, one of Józef Elsner’s most gifted pupils, described by his teacher as ‘an exceptional talent’, wrote his Grand Trio in A minor in 1831. Published in Leipzig three years later, the work received its successful premiere in Warsaw on 24 November 1835. This substantial work – its scale emphasised by the composer’s use of the word ‘Grand’ in the title – is in four movements. A classically constructed opening movement in sonata form is followed by a playful, light-hearted scherzo. The third movement, Adagio fantastico, has a ballad-like character and leads into a concluding rondo whose recurring refrain has features of the krakowiak. Written early in Dobrzyński’s career, the Trio combines Classical elements with the brillant style. Dobrzyński gives particular prominence to the piano part, placing considerable virtuoso demands on the performer. This may be why the work was dedicated to Johann Nepomuk Hummel, who similarly gave the piano a leading role in his trios, which were popular at the time.
A much greater balance between the instruments can be found in Clara Schumann’s Trio in A minor, composed in 1846 and regarded as one of her finest compositions. The work was premiered in Vienna on 15 January 1847 during Clara’s concert tour as a pianist. A review commented, in words characteristic of the spirit of the age, that the Trio ‘displays a calm mastery of the formal artistic medium that we would not expect from a woman composer’.
The entire work is infused with the heightened emotionalism of Romanticism: the first movement unfolds through a strongly dramatic narrative of contrasting themes in sonata form; the second is a playful scherzo recalling features of the minuet; and the tranquil third movement, with its quasi-song-like flow, is unexpectedly interrupted by a restless dialogue between the instruments. The finale recalls the opening movement and includes a masterly fugato in the development section of its sonata form. Inspired by Clara’s work, Robert Schumann composed his first Piano Trio, Op. 63, a year later.
