Charlotte Sohy – Trio op. 24 – Sheet music

Completed in 1931, this piece occupies a central position in Charlotte Sohy’s chamber music corpus. It is her only trio, apart from the Petite Suite op. 13 composed ten years earlier for three of her daughters.

In the Allegro of the first movement, the sonata form is treated very freely. A first, mysterious binary theme in A minor contrasts with a more lyrical, ternary second theme. There are numerous stylistic contrasts in the nuances and in the tempi as well. The composer uses each of the three instruments in an equilibrated manner. The movement ends with the instruction “bit by bit more animated” which leads up to the jubilant final rush, mixing the binary and ternary thematic elements.

The Andante second movement has the form of a calm and serene lied; the piano accompanies the main theme which passes from the violin to the cello. As themovement progresses, the language becomes more complex, the harmonies are enriched, and countermelodies appear, allowing the sounds of the strings to be heard from different aspects.

Very rhythmic, the Allegro final movement gives the leading role to the piano, with anapaests and syncopation that make it quite a virtuoso score. A sort of vital impulse draws us irresistibly towards the middle section, whose quintuple metre is calm and almost dreamlike. The movement ends with a return to the first theme, but in a sensual and lyrical form rather than the rhythmic expression of its beginning.