Schumann Piano Trio in D minor, Op 63 No.1

Written in 1847, this 4-movement piano trio is particularly well known for its romantic cello part and was followed swiftly by his 2nd piano trio, Op. 80 in F major, almost as one single idea. The second symphony had just been completed and he was at work on his major operatic project Genoveva, having sketched the Overture in April.

A primary influence on the piano trios was Schumann's wife, Clara, whose own trio had been written the previous year. The D minor work was sketched within a single week in June but not officially ready for performance until Clara's birthday in November although the second trio had been completed in October. The works are both tributes to Clara's own lyrical ideas and technical achievements in what was her major chamber work.

Mendelssohn Piano Trio in C minor, Op 66

Composed and published in 1845, 2 years before his death aged 38, the work is dedicated  to the violinist Louis Spohr. In 4 movements, a notable feature of the finale  is its quotation of the melody of a chorale taken from the sixteenth-century Genevan psalter 'Vor deinen Thron tret ich hiermit'.

Mendelssohn has been called the most precociously gifted composer the world has ever known: he was  double prodigy on the violin and piano (Clara Schumann described him as ‘the dearest pianist of all’), an exceptional athlete, a talented poet (Goethe was a childhood friend and confidant), multi-linguist, watercolorist and philosopher. He excelled at virtually anything which could hold his attention for long enough, although it was music above all which activated his creative imagination.