Classical Music | Music for Trio

Recorded on 10/01/2014, uploaded on 03/24/2015

Musician's or Publisher's Notes

The Andante con moto was written in 1878.  Grieg intended it to become a full piano trio, however it remained unfinished and it wasn’t until a century later that the piece was published.  It was discovered posthumously by Grieg’s colleague, composer, and close friend for many years, Julius Röntgen, who wrote to Grieg’s widow: “It is a beautiful piece and completely in order. . . . What a solemnity it conveys!  How he can’t get enough of that single theme, that even in the major mode retains its mourning character, and then develops so beautifully its full power . . . The piece can very well stand by itself and does not at all give the impression of being a fragment, as it constitutes a perfect entity in itself.”  Comments in Grieg’s own hand on the manuscript suggest that he wanted to do further work on the movement, and he hoped to shorten the middle section. The piece remains as his first attempt at this.
 
 The movement has mono-thematic structure, and a single powerful theme with dramatic parable and the most ascetic constraints. The theme later develops into a great climax played by all three instruments. Grieg achieves a wide range of affect and color within what might best be described as a meditation on a theme, something more subtle and overarching than a theme and variations.      Notes courtesy of Kai Christiansen and Music at Kohl Mansion.

Courtesy of International Music Foundation.