Fanny Mendelssohn Piano trio in d minor

 Day 78

Fanny Mendelssohn Piano trio in d minor

London Bride Trio

As was the case with Clara Schumann (day 62) Fanny Mendelssohn was largely seen by history only through the lens of a man - in this case her brother, so this was an opportunity for me to hear some of her music for the first time. The piano trio is a late work (1846) , the year before her death and was not published until 1850. It has a slightly unusual structure with a short allegretto movement headed lied after the andante second movement and the finale.

Hearing it cold one could imagine that it was by somebody in the Schumann circle - it has all the characteristics of a well-trained Leipzig-school composer, with attractive melody and harmony which is chromatic in places but well within the bounds of orthodoxy. If that sounds like damning with faint praise then that an accurate reflection of my impression of the piece. Enjoyable to listen to but not particularly memorable - there must be dozens of pieces like this by composers who have largely faded from view. I did find that at times the composer seemed to want to take a more expansive view of the ensemble and break out of the confined of the piano trio. There was a lot of tremolando effects in the piano part which seemed to hint at orchestral sonorities and some sustained double-stopped chords in the strings which were rather underpowered, certainly in this performance.  

I don’t believe in special pleading just because this was by a woman composer - I am pleased to have heard it but I don’t imagine that I will listen to it against any time soon. As I say, a well crafted piece by a composer who clearly knew what she was doing, but no unjustly neglected masterpiece.