Repertoire: IDEAL Piano Trios to Start Your Collection

Here are the works by ten major composers that you should sample in order to start building your library of piano trios (that is, trios for piano, violin and cello). Taken together, these pieces represent some of the greatest contributions to the chamber music literature. They are small only in the number of players required. In all other respects they are grand, expressive masterpieces.

[@shostakovich343]

Undoubtedly, you left him out on purpose, but I want to give Saint-Saëns a shoutout. His piano trios are masterpieces: immediately appealing, full of gorgeous tunes, and teriffically written. I urge anyone who doesn't know these pieces to seek out the Trio Wanderer recording (HM). It's a real find.

[@Plantagenet1956]

Any recommendations?

[@shostakovich343]

@@Plantagenet1956 For the Saint-Saëns? The Trio Wanderer, as said. Some additional French piano trios worth seeking out are Ravel's and Chausson's (together: Beaux Arts Trio, Philips), Fauré's and Pierné's (together: Trio Wanderer, HM) and Debussy's (Chamayou, Capuçon & Moreau, Erato). The Debussy is an early work, much underrated. Its style is somewhat regressive compared to late Debussy, but with such delightful, breezy music, that oughtn't matter.

[@Plantagenet1956]

@@shostakovich343 thanks. I have the Ravel. I’ll have a listen to the Chausson.

[@shostakovich343]

Enjoy!

[@Plantagenet1956]

@@shostakovich343 will do!

[@berndbo3360]

Thanks for the talk that rememberd me that I bought years ago the "Trio recordings" with Stern, Istomin and Rose. Beethoven, Mendelsohn, Schubert and Brahms. Wonderfull sensitive and intense.

[@bobhohertz1900]

Ah - I've always been fond of the Stern, Istomin, Rose performances of the Archduke and the Brahms First. I'd love to find well-remastered versions of these, as the sound on my early CDs isn't first rate, by any means.

[@berndbocian8355]

Me too. The EMI "Complete trios" Boxes volume 1 and 2 where my first trios i bought. The sound is direct and i like it.

[@fjblanco]

The only Dvorak trio I'm familiar with is the famous Dumky... I just listened to the Dvorak Piano Trio No. 3 in F minor for the first time (Tezlaff/Ondine) and it literally took my breath away. What an abundance of melody, expression, passion, intensity, melancholy... I'm just floored. Wow!

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

Thanks for listening. Yes--Wow!

[@iankemp1131]

I knew Nos. 3 and 4 which are very different but both great, but having heard Dave I clearly need to seek out Nos. 1 and 2 as well!

[@ammcello]

Arensky d minor is another famous standard one in that Russian string of elegiac trios. Such great melodies!

[@stevenmsinger]

The Shostakovich Second Piano Trio speaks to me with an immediacy few other pieces of music do. I remember the first time I heard it - the celebrity version with Yo-Yo Ma, Emmanuel Ax and others (not my favorite). That last movement in particular connected with something deep inside me from the first note. I had already heard the tune in Shostakovich's 8th String Quartet but in the trio we get it's most impactful form. I envy anyone who's about to hear it for the first time. It gives me chills. I'm going to listen to it right now.

[@armandodelromero9968]

Excellent selection Dave! I would like to add Faure's late Piano Trio op.120, one of his best works and one that undoubtedly enriches the repertoire.

[@MofosOfMetal]

My favourite Piano Trio group generally speaking are the Trio Wanderer - they produce the most consistently incredible recordings out there to my ears! The Piano Trio may actually be my favourite genre of all. I actually prefer Felix's second trio in C minor - so brooding and dark. Dare I say a little 'heavier' than the typical minor key works than him. My favourite Brahms is the first in B Major - I believe it's actually his first AND last, as there is an early version which is the first, but he later revised it. The early version has more material and there's a great performance by Hamelin etc. on KZbin if people want to watch it. A notable work for featuring a minor-key ending in a major key piece, very dramatic. Another absolute classic of the genre is Arensky's D minor - brilliant piece! And Smetana's G minor is amazing - very powerfully emotional, written after and about the agony of losing his daughter. Saint-Saëns' E minor Piano Trio is my favourite chamber work by him - a brilliant piece. For slightly more modern works - Frank Bridge's 2 piano trios are amazing too, first one a little more conservative and the second a bit more modern. I'm one of few people who prefer Bridge's music over his student Britten - I think Bridge may be Britain's greatest chamber music composer. Rimsky-Korsakov's C minor trio is wonderful too. I could go on! If you want to sample some rarities - there is a five volume series on Naxos titled 'History of the Russian Piano Trio'.

[@kylejohnson8877]

What a great post! I wholeheartedly agree with all that you say, except that I love both Bridge and Britten!

[@abrain]

Love the Smetana!

[@jamesmakey2792]

I also love the Trio Wanderer.

[@hobbysatanist6667]

The first Shostakovich piano trio is probably my favorite piece of music ever written. It may not be the greatest piece of music ever conceived by the human brain, but he was like 16 when he wrote it and it just expresses the feeling of being young and in love like nothing else does.

[@Steve_Stowers]

Piano trios, yay! The Archduke was my introduction to the piano trio (and is probably still my favorite), and it led me to seek out and find more, including most of the ones mentioned here.

[@leelarue1354]

I love the Archduke, too. Also like the Beaux Arts recordings of Haydn piano trios, and the Schubert Trios.

[@christophersmith6841]

Thanks for this talk. I'm excited to listen to Martinu. Even though you're setting out the repertoire essentials and therefore have to leave quite a few out, I think that Faure and Ravel should be in the mix. They're both peak of their powers works, and there are a couple of releases that have both (plus a very Brahmsian trio written by an 18-year-old Debussy) on one disc that are excellent: The Trio Fontenay on Teldec and the Florestan Trio on Hyperion. Could there be a chat on piano quintets in the future? There are fewer of them but a lot of excellent ones, and you could maybe even throw in the variations like the Trout and Mozart and Beethoven's quintets for piano and winds.

[@MatthewMarczi]

I'm very excited to hear that this could be the start of a new series, especially as somebody who is still fairly inexperienced with classical music, especially chamber music. I'm sure it will be a big help to me. I've stockpiled lots of classical music in my overeagerness to build a collection, but it also quickly becomes overwhelming and you start to look for guidance about where to dive in. I do have some of the more obvious material here in box sets, so I might as well start with Beethoven and Mozart. Looking forward to future installments of this repertoire sub-category talk.

[@murraylow4523]

Very nice talk Dave! Appreciate you had to limit who you talked about and particularly appreciate the promissory note re Schumann. His first trio in particular is such an engaging thing, and is probably more popular than the Piano Quartet, for example. Another shout out for the Saint-Saens Trios - When I heard them I thought them just wonderful. The main surprise for me in your survey was that the Ravel trio wasn’t there - surely one of the major 20th century efforts. Looking around I see I have a recording of both Mendelssohn trios on BIS with the Sitkovetsky Trio, very engaging if anyone wants the two on one disc.

[@elpatron549]

Great talk, thanks! I'm looking forward towards your recommendations of recordings of this terrific repertoire.

[@saltyfellow]

great series! we needed your great knowledge to lead us in chamber music!!!

[@Vandalarius]

Piano trios are favorite chamber genre! I'm glad you mentioned the 3 Russian trios; they are absolutely wonderful. I see you've left out the French (no doubt keeping them for another time). Just for fun I'm going to list 5 french composers I'd include in any trio repertoire: Franck, Saint-Saens, Chaminade, Faure and Ravel. Honorable mention goes to Louise Farrenc, whose op. 33 has one of the most beautiful slow moment in the genre. Also for those who are interested in championing works by female composers, aside from Farrenc and Chaminade, both Clara Schumann and Fanny Mendelssohn composed a trio each and both are absolutely exquisite masterpieces and deserve to be in the canon.

[@coprario1]

Rebecca Clarke is another good one

[@ThreadBomb]

What about Chausson?

[@Vandalarius]

@@coprario1 Agreed!

[@Vandalarius]

​@@ThreadBomb Another great french trio but I guess I just found 5 a "nicer" number than 6. Lalo's trios are also great.

[@woongcho7709]

Terrific talk again, Dave. I believe no one can go wrong with anything done by Czechs when it comes to chamber music. As for me, more than half of all my chamber music discs are done by Czechs that include Suk trio, Smetana Trio, and Guarneri Trio Prague. And I'd like to add one more item to your list - Villa Lobos Piano Trio no.1, which was a pleasant surprise for me and I hope his chamber music will be more widely known among music fans. By the way, I just watched the Van Cliburn Competition Final. Yunchan Lim, the gold medalist's Rach 3 was just breathtaking and Marin Alsop's sympathetic accompaniment was amazing. It was an incredible chemistry. I wish there were some prestigious chamber music competitions. It would be fun and help chamber music gain more popularity. Just my thought....

[@cliffordbaker4930]

Great survey! I love piano trios and have all the ones you mentioned except the Tchaikovsky, Shostakovich, and Martinu. I’ll have to get them. Thanks for the highlighting them. I also love the Ravel and Faure trios for anyone wanting to round up to a dozen. Thanks again!

[@chadweirick67]

Started listening to the tchaikovsky just to see what it sounded like ( kissin, bell) and now, 42 minutes later, I fell in love with that piece

[@jwhend49]

Wonderful repertoire discussion. As a pianist myself I have enjoyed listening to most of the trios you mention, but have yet to discover the delights of the Martinu trios - so thank you for enlightening me.

[@mike-williams]

Schubert's 2 trio is one of my all-time favourites of anything. I must have at least a dozen recordings. Tonally, I've come to prefer fortepiano as against piano in his piano chamber repertoire. Also a shout out for the Babajanian Piano Trio from 1953 which is finally getting its time in the sun with many recordings. It was premiered by David Oistrakh (violin) , Sergey Knushevitsky (cello) and Arno Babadjanian (piano)

[@ThreadBomb]

Which HIP recordings of Schubert's trios would you recommend?

[@mike-williams]

@@ThreadBomb I usually turn to Castle Trio with Lambert Orkis.

[@johnmontanari6857]

We've got the Smetana Trio playing the Smetana Trio (and vice versa), Martinů No. 1 and Rach. Trio élégiaque No. 1 to open up our series next season. Should be great. Excellent survey!

[@eighteenin78]

A good part of my classical music collection is chamber music and a good number of that are piano trios. I have many of the ones you have mentioned. Often when I feel like listening to classical music but I do not know what I want specifically, I often put on a disc of trios and spend a satisfying evening. This list is helpful. It is the Martinu I am a little short on.

[@iankemp1131]

Dave lists the 10 composers right at the end, ranging from Mozart to Martinu. Several are rightly represented by more than one work. Great survey.

[@Klaveeri]

Thank you for the wonderful video! I would love to see a similar video about essential reed trios. I have recently discovered this delightful genre and I would love to hear your thoughts on the topic.

[@FritzTheCat_1030]

There's a fantastic video performance of the Shostakovich here on KZbin by the Greenwich Trio. It's unfortunately split into 4 videos, with 1 movement in each (I think the maximum video length was much shorter when it was uploaded 15 years ago). It's not the most note-perfect performance you'll ever hear...but the last movement is absolutely savage and they play with such intensity, you'll look past a couple of minor technical mistakes. I believe the audio was also released on disc, but I'm not sure if it's still available.

[@MDK2_Radio]

Shostakovich was my gateway to chamber music - the 8th string quartet for that medium, and because that quotes the 2nd trio (among other of his works), the 2nd piano trio for that medium. Growing up I only enjoyed orchestral works, with few exceptions for any that included vocals and really nothing from the chamber world, so thanks to Dmitri Dmitriyevich for broadening my horizons.

[@KBMars]

Very helpful, as always. Thank you David.

[@marknewkirk4322]

I agree with the listed works up until Martinu. There I simply have to plead ignorance, but I will rectify that. The only "essential" piano trio not on this list is Ravel's, which is tremendous, but I know Dave had to draw the line somewhere. And about Brahms - if you have to pick one version of the B major, trio, get the revised version. Both versions were good enough for Brahms to want them published, but the revision, still quite long, gets to the point sooner. There is possibly also a fourth Brahms piano trio in A major, and some collections of his trios will include it. It may actually be by someone else, but it is still a very entertaining piece, and if it's included in the set you buy, do listen to it, too.

[@ThreadBomb]

I suspect the 4th is an early work that escaped the bonfire. I like the recording by the Fontenay Trio a lot.

[@marknewkirk4322]

@@ThreadBomb I'll check it out. I have the Vienna Piano Trio recording on Naxos, which is quite good.

[@MrInterestingthings]

I'll never forget the first time I heard Argerich,Kremer and Mischa in the Shostakovich trio. It was a lonely , quiet time in my life and I had gotten into the habit of listening to music late at night . The setting was just right and I was young and not familiar with Shostakovich though I had owned the Oistrakhk 1stviolin concerto for years I had been to scared . Well ,this started my adventure into 20th century Russians . Schehedrin and others came following .

[@cappycapuzi1716]

Great chat! Chamber music including piano always gets my attention. You are so right: it's just so much richer. I really enjoy Beethoven's op. 1 as well: the stormy C minor (which Haydn tried to talk Beethoven out of publishing) and the expansive, passionate slow movement of the G major. They are quite a statement for an op. 1! I luv the Shostakovich! Thanks for the heads up on the Martinu

[@edwinbelete76]

Another enlightening discussion. I have to give a shout out to the Debussy piano trio, an absolutely delightfu and underrated work. The Joachim Trio's performance on Naxos is excellent.

[@KingOuf1er]

What an incredibly useful video, which shone a torch (flashlight!) through one of the more threadbare areas of my collection! I do hope that, given time, you move on to the Piano Quartet repertoire, and in particular, my favourite chamber music ensemble, the Piano Quintet. I feel I have these genres covered rather more comprehensively, but who knows which unknown (to me) works you might highlight! Thanks again.

[@gabibensimon9]

Hi Dave just checked the des Iscles trio disc, it is really something ! Only 7 monthly listeners on Spotify, ridiculous….the world isn’t fair… Many thanks for the review

[@alexhamilton9758]

Speaking of Martinu, I think he wrote the best cello sonatas (3 of them) of the 20th century.

[@loganfruchtman953]

Schubert’s Notturno in E Flat D.897 is in my opinion one of the most beautiful pieces in classical music and it’s in that Beaux Arts Trio Disc.

[@ruramikael]

Hummel's trios are not to be missed!

[@micolsen9824]

Any recommendations?

[@ruramikael]

@@micolsen9824 Complete piano trios with Trio Parnassus (2CDs) if it is still available.

[@micolsen9824]

Thanks.

[@ThreadBomb]

I think I like Mendelssohn's piano quartets more than the trios, especially opus 3, so I hope there is a talk on piano quartets pencilled in for some time in the future. I wonder which form is less recognised, the piano quartet or the string sextet?

[@trevormobbs7746]

Dvorak no.3 in F minor is one of his greatest works in my opinion. And yes the first 2 are pretty darn good as well, I agree with you that they're among his best earlyish works. I will need to check out Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninov, I'm a bit surprised you included a latter given his trios are very early works (I tend to prefer late Rachmaninov) and might have replaced him with Ravel... Martinu is already on my list, I've only heard the short 1st one.

[@kylejohnson8877]

I suppose you had a good reason for omitting Saint-Saëns (x2) and Ravel - three of my favorite piano trios in the repertoire and which represent both composers at the absolute heights of their powers. Will be they be receiving talks in the future, I hope?

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

I had an excellent reason, which I explained very thoroughly in the video.

[@vdtv]

As to Brahms: some performers record an A Major opus posthumous trio as a bonus with the standard three (Beaux Arts, Fontenay and probably more), though there is a lot of doubt whether it's actually Brahms or not. The second movement trio would easily convince me that it is, the rest maybe less so. But no matter: that little section could go straight into a World's Most Beautiful Melodies episode whoever wrote it! Wouter van Doorn

[@gabibensimon9]

תודה!

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

Thank you very much!

[@joshuafruend3348]

Thanks for the fabulous repertoire video on the piano trio genre, Mr. Hurwitz! I have to say, Mendelssohn’s d minor has been a favorite of mine for years. I’m a little disappointed you left out Chopin’s one piano trio, but not surprised as it isn’t one of his best known works, to be sure. I think it is highly underrated, nonetheless. Any thoughts on it?

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

Nice, yes. Underrated? I'm not so sure.

[@carlcurtis]

Make it easy on yourself and call Trio Des Iscles The Three Icicles. And for all I know, that may be what it means.

[@saltyfellow]

dear Dave. have you an advice for the ravel piano trio? was it a forgot... or you don't think it belongs to the great piano trios? thanks!

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

I'll get to it.

[@bbailey7818]

Forgive my heresy, but has anyone ever orchestrated and, more important, recorded the Tchaikovsky trio as such? Whenever I hear it, it just seems to cry out for full orchestra--in a way the Shostakovich certainly does not.

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

Not that I'm aware of.

[@bbailey7818]

@@DavesClassicalGuide Thanks. There's an opening for somebody. I am also unashamedly hoping for a modern recording of Weingartner's Hammerklavier orchestration.