Schumann hailed Schubert’s 9th Symphony for its “heavenly length”, but that phrase could be just as appropriately used to describe this trio, a work of miraculous diversity whose vast swells and deflations have a boundlessness about them. The ingenuity on display here is extraordinary – the implausible modulations throughout (Mvt 1’s first theme is in Eb, the second in B min), the way a tiny motif briefly wedged between the first 2 themes of Mvt 1 expands into an ocean of sound, the gorgeous melody of Mvt 2, the baffling intricacy of Mvt 4’s sonata-rondo form.
Perhaps because I’m more used to choosing from the piano literature, choosing a performance of this work to showcase was annoyingly difficult, because recordings are often lopsided – Schiff/Perenyi is too piano-ey, while the recent Mutter/Trifonov is far, far too violin-centric. This recording is close to perfect – lyrical without gilding this work’s undercurrents of pain, confiding in the slow sections, gripping in the climaxes, deft in those many wonderful modulations. And when the music really should be left to speak for itself – Mvt 2, for instance – it’s left just as it is, perfect.
MVT I, Allegro
EXPOSITION
00:00 – Theme 1 (T1), Eb
00:17 – Motif (a), in the cello. Note semitone descent/ rise pattern (Bb-B-Bb, C-B-C, and so on)
00:53 – T2, B min(!). Developed as soon as it is introduced.
01:51 – (a)
02:10 – (a) blooms into T3, in Bb. Rhythmic/textural change at 2:38 = T3*
02:58 – T4/Codetta, beginning with hemiola & incorporating (a).
DEVELOPMENT
03:31 – Transition
03:41 – T3*, in B. At 3:51, (a) introduced in bass & developed. This structure (T3*, then Motif 1) is repeated twice in F# & Db, in a long-drawn sequence replete with gorgeous modulations.
06:27 – Long dominant preparation
RECAPITULATION
07:20 – T1
08:16 – T2, E min
09:34 – T3, Eb
10:22 – T4
10:48 – Extended coda. (a) returns with a vengeance at 10:54. At 11:11, T2 returns. At 11:54 T1 enters, displaced into rising figure, before T2’s rhythm closes.
MVT II, Andante con moto
12:15 – A section. Melody with some lovely modal colour. At 13:04, in its second strain, a falling motif (b) is introduced (itself from the falling Gs at 12:58).
14:11 – B section. Melody introduced in violin, developing (b). At 15:19, climax of this section is reached.
16:02 – A section. Melody in piano, counterpoint in violin/cello. At 16:59, melody developed further in Ab min and C# min. At 17:30, outburst in F# min. (b) erupts over the Neapolitan at 17:44, which becomes dominant of C.
18:02 – B section. At 19:14, an exclamation, cycling through A, F, and C twice.
20:50 – A section. Coda. Melody introduced momentarily in the major, before returning to minor. In unison, violin/cello state a modified version of the melody a final time, before small cadenza in piano closes.
MVT III, Scherzo (Allegro moderato)
22:01 – Scherzo. Canonic imitation between piano & strings. Magical modulations throughout. (Ab to E, 22:44. Eb to C, 23:13, etc.)
24:53 – Trio
27:17 – Scherzo
MVT IV, Allegro moderato
EXPOSITION
28:48 – A section. Eb.
30:06 – B section. C min.
30:53 – C section. Eb. Lovely modulations at 31:18.
31:39 – B section, preceded by diminished 7th chord. Later presented in the major.
31:10 – A section, vigorously developed. The dramatic descending broken chords in unison recall (b) from Mvt 2 (19:14).
DEVELOPMENT
32:47 – Shift to B min, recalling Mvt 1. Continues in vein of the previous section, developing the A theme. At 33:38, a beautiful syncopated hemiola arpeggio is introduced, under which there suddenly returns
33:42 – the main theme from Mvt 2. Transcendent.
34:27 – B theme developed. At 34:43, the texture/rhythm is transformed: piano plays triplet counterpoint, cello and violin sustain theme in canon. Shortly after, B theme returns to B min & original texture, before surprising burst of F major at 35:24, exploiting ambiguity of preceding diminished 7th. At 35:35, return to 6/8, with dramatic/Brahmsian statement of B theme in Eb min follow by sudden shift to B min.
36:05 – Motif from A theme introduced, immediately followed by its inversion (which also recalls the marchlike texture of Mvt 2). Shifts into Eb min.
RECAPITULATION
36:32 – A section.
37:57 – B section. F min.
38:28 – C section.
39:15 – B section. F min, then major.
39:46 – A section. At 40:11 things appear to be wrapping up. Instead, we get
CODA
40:25 – Sudden shift to E min, where the A theme is developed & moves (through an ingenious set of modulations) into Eb min.
41:01 – The syncopated hemiola broken chords return, with the melody from Mvt 2 slipping in beneath as before. At 41:33, a burst of joy, as we move into the major. The only happy statements of the Mvt 2 theme are heard, suddenly celebratory and generous, in unison in the strings. They reenter twice at successively higher points – a Bb and Eb – before the strings take up the hemiola accompaniment from the piano. A truncated statement of A theme closes.