LDV64.5

22 BRAHMS_TRIOS OP.8, 87, 101 & 114 With the exception of the Trio for horn, violin and piano in E flat major op.40 of 1865, quite different in character, haunted by Nature, radiant and exhilarating in its vitality, Brahms only returned to the trio formation much later, in 1882 – that is, some years before he reworked his first effort in the genre, doubtless precisely because he was aware it had not completely fulfilled its promise. Now confident in his art, he gave the first performance of his Piano Trio in C major op.87 with members of his friend Joachim’s quartet and himself at the piano. The new work is less ostensibly Romantic and at once displays a tempered torment. Passion is contained and as if under the permanent control of form. Greater balance seems to be the watchword of this somewhat severe work, as it was of a segment of Brahms’s output following his flamboyant early years. So much is immediately obvious from the initial Allegro, with its sovereign affirmationsoon relaxedbya tender second theme.TheensuingAndante conmoto states a simple, poignant melody, tinged with nostalgia, played by the strings in unison and then subjected to a series of variations, all very lyrical – Brahms had become, after Beethoven, the supreme master of variation form. Then comes a restless Scherzo, almost ghostly, like similar movements by Mendelssohn; this is interrupted by a warm, magnificently effusive melody. The finale, Allegro giocoso – cheerful, almost easy-going – gives free rein to a popular, dancelike vigour.