FRANZ SCHUBERT Trio movement in B flat major for violin, viola and violoncello, D 471

Franz Schubert only tackled the string trio genre twice in his lifetime - according to his own assessment, not with great success. The composer, barely 20 at the time, was later highly self-critical of his youthful works and spoke disparagingly of »models« from which he was only »learning« to find his own style. He first attempted his string trio career in 1816 with the »Trio movement in B flat major« but probably left the work unfinished due to his dissatisfaction. It was not until years after his death that the piece, intended only for domestic music-making practice, was performed. It is today regarded as an endearing fragment that enjoys a spring-like zest and would have deserved completion.

ZOLTÁN KODÁLY Intermezzo for violin, viola and violoncello

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About a century and 200 kilometres separate the Viennese Franz Schubert from the composer Zoltán Kodály, often called the »father of Hungarian modernism«. With his friend and colleague Béla Bartók, he visited large parts of Hungary in the first decades of the 20th century and recorded songs and chants of the people living there. The memorable melodies and rhythms inspired him to write his own works with Hungarian influences. This can also be heard in the »Intermezzo for String Trio«, which he wrote in 1905 while studying at the Academy of Music in Budapest. Influenced by Hungarian folk songs, the work, which has both bowed and plucked accompaniment, is in a style that is both elegant and light.

ERNST VON DOHNÁNYI Serenade in C major for violin, viola and violoncello, op. 10

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By the way: Kodály's »Intermezzo for String Trio« was modelled on the »Serenade in C Major« by his Hungarian compatriot Ernst von Dohnányi. The composer and pianist remained - unlike Kodály and Bartók - committed to the late Romantic style, thus forming a counterpoint to the national-Hungarian style that was predominant in this period. Dohnányi's Serenade from 1903 is formally oriented towards the string trios of Mozart and Beethoven and is undoubtedly comparable to them in its compositional mastery. This was also the opinion of the composer Johannes Brahms, who once said about one of Dohnányi's compositions: »I couldn't have done that better myself«. A compliment that could well have applied to the almost 20-minute, five-part Serenade with its incredible joy of playing and tonal imagination.