"…his music is language itself, as the flowers speak to us, as eyes tell the most mysterious fairy tales, as kindred spirits are able to communicate with each other from afar; the language of the soul, the purest essence of the music.". Robert Schumann, when writing these words in a concert review, could have been describing his own understanding of music. In Marchenbilder, meaning "Fairy Tales", we can hear the poetry and language he strove so deeply to convey in his music. The indications of the movements are markings of expression: I Not too fast, II Tender, III Harsh, IV Slow with melancholy, V With expression. The depth of the viola captures the warmth, passion and soft tenderness in his story.

String Trio in Eb Major Op. 3
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)

Beethoven completed this piece some time in 1792 in Bonn just prior to beginning his studies with the great Joseph Haydn in Vienna, after which point he made a many revisions as he typically did, and even considered turning it into a piano trio. The piece was first heard in England after an accomplished musician and admirer of the young Beethoven’s work, Abbe Dobler, fled to England from Germany for political reasons with the score to the trio in his trunk. He quickly became friends with William Gardiner, a musical dilletante of the time, and showed him the music to the trio written by the previously unheard of (in England), Ludwig van Beethoven. It was played in a room in London in 1794 and met with great praise, Gardiner wrote, "This composition, so different from anything I had ever heard, awaked in me a new sense, a new delight, in the science of sounds…".

This piece was first published by Artaria in Vienna in 1796 and was reprinted all over Europe in the composer’s lifetime (six times in Paris and twice in London). Beethoven most certainly modeled this work after Mozart’s Divertimento in Eb major, also written for violin, viola and cello and also in no less than six movements! The two trios also have the slow movements in the same position of II and IV. Scoring for violin, viola and cello as opposed to the string quartet configuration of two violins, viola and cello makes for a richer, deeper texture, that’s thicker in the middle.

Piano Trio in Bb Major
Franz Schubert (1797-1828)

As a youth, Schubert showed a great deal of talent in music. He studied the violin with his father and the piano with his brother, Ignaz. When he was just 11 he was awarded a place in the Imperial Court Chapel Choir and admitted into the Stadtkonvikt, the principal boarding school in Vienna. Among his teachers was Anton Salieri, Mozart’s long time rival and also a teacher of Beethoven. When he was just 15, his mother passed away. While Schubert would have preferred pursuing his music he bowed to his father’s urging that he get a job to start earning some money and took a position teaching in his father’s school. 

This didn’t last too long; Schubert needed to follow his dreams. Four years into his teaching position he moved away to live with his long time friend, Franz Schober. Schober introduced him to the famous baritone, Johann Michael Vogl who was instrumental in popularizing Schubert’s lieder. However, despite all his efforts he was never able to secure a position in music to support himself and lived in relative obscurity. In 1822 at the age of 25 he fell very ill from syphilis and returned home to his father to convalesce. Nonetheless he was still capable of creating such masterpieces as the Unfinished Symphony and the Wanderer Fantasy. In 1824, not fully recovered and completely broke he relapsed. Remarkably, it was at this time that Schubert composed the bulk of his chamber music.

By early 1828 he was nearly conquered by his illness. Nonetheless, there was a period of six weeks before he died when he had a burst of creative energy during which time he composed his three late piano sonatas, the Quintet in C major and the "Schwanengesang" songs. By late September he was stricken with typhoid and on Nov. 19, he died.

There is some question about whether the Bb Major trio was composed in 1826 or 1827. Evidence shows the slow movement may very likely have been written first. When you hear the depth of sadness and melancholy always presented with such tenderness in this movement, one can only imagine the toll his illness and misfortunes were taking on his life.

It’s amazing that despite these hardships he is able to start the piece with such tremendous confidence and so boldly. The Scherzo and Rondo both possess the energy and charm so often found in Schubert’s music. Unlike Beethoven, Schubert never lived to see much of his music published, nor receive the respect and love it now enjoys. Seven weeks before his death he called a big publisher demanding that his music be published, with no success.