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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 trios.
Although the piano trio for piano, violin, and cello is
the most common ensemble, the 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
The String Trio
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