He wrote to his sister Fanny regarding this work, saying, “The trio is a bit frightening at first glance, but it is not really that difficult to perform: seek and you shall find!” Indeed, the work appears to be very demanding, especially for the piano, which leaves behind its traditional role of accompanist to become an equal partner with the strings. The composer himself proved equal to the challenge of this part at the work’s premiere in Leipzig in December 1845.

The piano takes on the principal role from the very first measures of the Allegro energico e con fuoco, nervously attacking its sixteenth-note theme, which is then taken up by the strings. Between appearances of this recurring frenzy, the lyricism of the second theme occasionally allows us to catch a glimpse of a passionate melancholy. The Andante espressivo soon arrives to lull the listener with a gentle theme taken from the Songs without Words. Moving from the piano to the strings, this melody continues to develop in the same quiet mood, which is suddenly interrupted by the arrival of the Scherzo (Molto Allegro quasi presto). With its continual sixteenth-notes in canon, this third movement leads the listener from a merry rush to a graceful dance embellished by trills. After a brief respite, the languid cello of the finale’s Allegro appassionato draws in the listener with its surging melody based on the leap of a ninth.

In contrast with this recurring passion-filled theme, the second theme introduces a serene mood, only to be augmented by the arrival of the third theme, a majestic chorale. A truly orchestral climax, the coda brings the work to an end in a heroic manner worthy of one of the great masters of chamber music.

A brief fortissimo seems to call us to order: Lalo marks his return with the power of an Allegro appassionato. A broad, lyrical melody soon surfaces in the strings, before the piano makes its presence felt with a new heroic theme. These two contrasting ideas dominate the entire movement, which alternates freely between tenderness and assertiveness. This is followed by a dolcissimo section in which the ensemble fades away in a brief truce before the mad rush of the Presto—a movement made famous by the composer’s reorchestration of 1884 (Scherzo).

The listener is then swept away by a cheerful, spiralling passage set into motion by a stubbornly repeated rhythmic motive in the piano, accentuated here and there by certain notes from the string melody. The perpetual motion calms itself temporarily with an equally ingenious rhythm, only to regain its momentum with renewed vigour. It is in the movement marked Très lent that the trio finally relaxes, giving rise to a long and mysterious reverie led by the expressive singing line of the right hand of the piano along with the strings doubling at the octave. The work ends with a spirited Allegro molto in a lively rhythm, leading the listener first through the meanderings of motivic explorations, and then through the tiny surgings of a humorous theme. The spectacular coda seems to mark the final victory of the composer over a public who had been cuttingly hostile for far too long.

The splendour of Mendelssohn’s second trio recalls that of Lalo’s third, the two composers, despite differing paths, revealing the full extent of their musical talents in these works. At times revelling in orchestral brilliance, at times shrouded in pianistic intimacy, these two compositions demonstrate the unmistakable Romanticism of nineteenth-century chamber music.