The Trio opens with a bold theme, announced by the three instruments in unison. After 16 measures, the theme continues with a completely different strain for the cello. The second theme also has two distinct elements, both in a minor mode – a rhythmic tune marked by repeated notes and presented by the piano, and a flowing melody stated by the cello with the violin joining two measures later.
And Schubert’s outburst of melody is still not finished. He combines the two elements of the first theme into a brand new third theme, and it is this theme – more accurately, its first four measures – that provides the raw material for the development. The violin and cello repeat these four measures again and again against triplets in the piano in a breath-taking series of modulations extending some 190 measures. Eventually, we are led back to the restatement of the first theme.
The second movement is an example of Schubert’s occasional use of a song as the basis for an instrumental work. In most cases, he used a song of his own. For the slow movement of this trio, however, he uses a Swedish folk song, “The Sun Has Set,” which he heard a visiting Swedish tenor sing at a Vienna house party. However, he adds a marching gait, first stated by the piano, as the cello presents the theme. He then finds in the song a high drama far from the simple original, and the movement gradually builds in tension until it explodes in a disturbing and violent climax.
The third movement, Scherzo, again offers a wealth of melody. The main section treats them in canonic imitation – that is, with the piano leading off with the tune and the strings following with the same strain a measure later. Sometimes the order is reversed and the lag stretches to two measures, but virtually every measure is an imitation of another. In the contrasting trio, the rhythm changes to a stomping ländler – an Austrian country dance.
The long finale has three themes. The first, in a sprightly 6/8 rhythm, is stated at the outset by the piano.
The second theme, in duple time and presented in several different guises, has a distinctive Hungarian gypsy flavor. The third theme is the Swedish folk song from the second movement – one of the first examples of the practice of tying a work together by using a theme from an earlier movement. After a second and final appearance of the Swedish tune, the music increases in excitement, and the trio reaches a jubilant ending.
Here is Schubert’s music:
