Easy-ish Piano Trios. Or Chamber Music in general.

[squinchy]

I'm looking for some trios that I could try and get some friends to play with me, something with a piano part about the difficulty of Mozart's C minor Fantasie (K. 475), that isn't very long, and has pretty balanced parts. Preferably in the early classical-classical period, since later things probably require too much 'musical maturity' or technique for me.

The optimal difficulty of the cello and violin parts depend on who I can 'persuade' to join, but most are the types whose mothers forced them to play when they could barely form coherent sentences and now are either stuck in ruts or loathe their instruments. I know that Mozart piano trios tend to have pathetic cello parts. *thump thump thump thump, drag-and-hold-for 3 measures, repeat*

Any suggestions? I liked the Gypsy Rondo from Haydn's Trio in G major #25--it was short, energetic, and didn't sound too hard--more things like that would be great.

Alternatively, Vln/Vla/Vlc trios are good too. Maybe even quartets, as long as the viola doesn't have the aforementioned patheticness.

[mrchops10]

Before Beethoven, most piano trios use the string parts mostly as accompaniment. Actually, I heard that the wonderful Mozart violin/piano sonatas were originally designed as a courtship ritual. Bourgeois women were at that time usually quite accomplished pianists (more than most men), so the violin parts that their beaus would play would necessarily be much easier. Most cello parts for trios are like you mentioned.

THAT SAID, Mozart/Haydn trios are NOT easy for any instrument. I play a lot of chamber music, Romantic, Modern, and Classical, and I find that often pre-Beethoven chamber music requires a greater level of involvement and intimacy from all members. Their apparent technical ease is only that, and that's why they are butchered so often. I think for young musicians, it's actually easier to put together a less involved Romantic trio. The Mendelssohn d minor 1st and 2nd mov'ts are classic student pieces in this bend (it takes a bit of finger work, but I think doable). Also, the string parts are more independently attractive, but not all that difficult. Good luck!

[mcgillcomposer]

Why don't you try one of Beethoven's 3 trios from Op. 1?  They are full of life, great to play and listen to, and they aren't particularly difficult technically.  I prefer Op. 1 no. 3 in c minor because of it's extreme variety in colouration, and liveliness of rhythm but all three are fantastic.  Enjoy

- Andrew

[squinchy]

Thanks for the suggestions, Andrew and mrchops--I'll definitely look for some recordings of those. In fact, I think I came across the Mendelssohn when I was googling this topic and found a recording somewhere...

THAT SAID, Mozart/Haydn trios are NOT easy for any instrument. I play a lot of chamber music, Romantic, Modern, and Classical, and I find that often pre-Beethoven chamber music requires a greater level of involvement and intimacy from all members. Their apparent technical ease is only that, and that's why they are butchered so often.

I played the Allegro and Larghetto movements of Mozart's K. 502 (Bb) this summer at camp; we were working on shaping and 'singing' the phrases (and trying to get the cellist to play in tune, and then audibly) for more than a week. Every imperfection was exposed because there wasn't any gooey layering of voices to hide behind, and I think that's where the difficulty was for us.