Mendelssohn’s D minor Trio demonstrates a delightful style, and winning themes, frequently announced on the cello, with often tormented Romanticism.
In the stormy first movement we hear the innocent theme transformed into an ensuing frenzied coda.
The second movement’s song without words seems initially welcomed before the tempestuous middle section, and the Scherzo is something that Mendelssohn could have copyrighted – a fairy dance of exhilarating virtuosity.
But it is at the arrival of the finale that the true originality of this work is revealed. Moments of particular emotional intensity in the work have been marked by the appearance of a plaintive falling theme, reminiscent of the Schumann ‘Clara’ motif.
With the end in sight, the finale plunges into a distressing minor, increasingly unsettled and seeming to lead towards tragedy as the falling theme reappears as the second subject soon brings the work to a close.
Here is the music for your enjoyment:
