Web links Center Home - Main Menu Art & Music Musical Instruments Musical Periods Musical Forms Music Almanac Musical Humor Music Dictionary Music Jukebox Great Composers World Music
Help

PreviousEnsembles menuNext

The trio

Xtend

Listen to the ensemble
Listen

Leopold Mozart with his 2 kids - Wolfgang and Anna (1764) Louis de Carmontelle, British Museum
Picture

Musical Dictionary
Dictionary

Study about this ensemble on the internet
Internet

Students Projects
Projects
The piano trio ensemble includes a piano, a violin and a cello. The contrast between the percussive sound of the piano and the sweet sustained sound of the strings, is one of the trademarks of this kind of popular chamber ensemble. Haydn created this kind of trio in order to strengthen the somewhat silent piano of his time. The violin's singing tone had a sustaining part of the piano's right hand while the cello supported the left-hand bass. Brahms and other Romantic composers created wonderful piano triosBrahms's Trio in B, Op. 8  - Allegro Con Brio.

Although the piano trio for piano, violin, and cello is the most common ensemble, the string trioThe music of 'Jerusalem String Trio''Jerusalem String Trio' photoThe web site of 'Jerusalem String Trio', which includes a violin, a viola and a cello or 2 violins and a cello, is also important. Composers including Mozart, with his great Divertimento K563, and Haydn and Beethoven are the most important among them.

The most common trio in the Baroque period was the trio sonata, which included two solo instruments (usually for two violins) and a continuo - a keyboard instrument which accompanied the solo instruments with figured bass. The trio sonata reached its peak with the great works of Corelli. Handel, Vivaldi and Telemann wrote wonderful trios.

Sometimes, rather unusual combinations of 3 instruments became interesting trios, such as Dvorak's Terzetto for two violins and viola.

In the 18th century, the word "trio" was often used for pieces in three parts even if performed by only one player.





The Piano Trio

Click 2 study more...Click 2 study more...Click 2 study more...

The String Trio

Click 2 study more...Click 2 study more...Click 2 study more...

Back to the last screen

MusixCool© By Nadav Dafni