32 BRAHMS ∙ THE PIANO TRIOS The Andante grazioso contrasts with the first two movements. What are its specific features? Fanny: In this Andante, the violin and cello sing together, as in Trio no.1, and they alternate with the piano, which repeats their phrases. That makes things difficult for the strings! Should they adopt the intonation of the piano, or aim for that of a string quartet? Pauline: And what should the pianist do? Should they exactly imitate the strings, or can they phrase differently, making use of rubato? We found the answer to this question thanks to a marking in the score: every time the piano takes up the string theme, Brahms writes ‘dolce’. To use rubato, to loosen up the phrase, to make it my own – it’s a temptation for me as a pianist! This performance mark confirmed my interpretative choice, which adds a touch of tenderness and turns this movement into a lullaby. Angèle: After the simple statement on the strings, the continuation on the piano calls for that kind of freedom. It then determines the new flow of the tempo. We discussed several other possibilities at length and tried them out, but this proposal convinced us unanimously.
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