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Clara Schumann Piano Trio in G minor, Op.17
The Piano Trio in G minor, Op17 by Clara Schumann was written in 1846, and was the only piano trio she wrote. The trio was composed during her presence in Dresden 1845-1846. During the development of the Trio, she was going through hardships in life. Her fourth child, Emil had died a few years back and her husband Robert was extremely ill. This trio was completed during the summer of 1846 when they traveled to Norderney in attempts to improve Robert’s health conditions. While in Norderney, Clara suffered from miscarriage. A year after the composition of her piano trio, Robert composed his first piano trio, op.63. It is seen that Clara’s trio has had great influences on Robert’s trio as they both share many interesting similarities. Their works were frequently paired at concerts.

Clara Schumann’s compositions include 29 Lieders (songs), choral music, solo piano pieces, 1 piano concerto, chamber and orchestral works. It was her first attempt writing music for other instruments other than the voice and piano.

Movement 1
The first movement is in Allegro moderato. It relies on energy and chromaticism to attract the audience. Throughout the movement, each instruments has their own soloistic moment on top of exceptional balance between three instruments. This balance depicts that Clara had a great understanding of three instruments although she was a pianist.

Movement 2
The 2nd movement consists of three sections; ''Scherzo, Trio, and Scherzo. Scherzo is in B-Flat Major, the same key as the relative major of the first movement, and is instructed to play in the “Tempo di minuetto''” which means slow, graceful and playful. The melody is often played by the violin, while the cello accompanies the melody through pizzicato as the piano play chords. These contrasts between the cello and piano successfully create the mood of the “Tempo di minuetto”. After Scherzo, a contrasting section, trio, appears. It is in E-Flat Major and is more lyrical than Scherzo. however, the overall mood of the piece of is still playful. At last, it goes back to Scherzo and finishes up the movement.

Movement 3
The 3rd movement, Andante, is in G major and begins with 8 measures of a piano solo.

Soon after, violin takes over the lovely theme. In the middle of movement, all three parts play dotted rhythms, which contribute to the contrast of the emotion of the piece. The piece could be described as “bittersweet”.

Movement 4
The last movement is in Sonata form again. The opening is similar to the opening theme of the first movement, which resembles “dramatic intensity”.