The Horn Trio, composed in 1865, was originally written for the Waldhorn (a “natural” horn, without valves). Several extramusical elements were also involved in the work’s creation: Brahms’ mother, Christiane, to whom the composer was extremely close, died in February of that year, and as a child Brahms had learned to play the natural horn. The somber, nostalgic timbre of the archaic instrument was, at the time, also associated with nature, in which Brahms often found inspiration.

In an article in the journal The Horn Call, David G. Elliott notes: “From 1862 to 1872, Brahms spent his summer months with Clara Schumann and her friends in the Black Forest. In this beautiful setting he received inspiration for the composition of the Trio.” Elliott also writes that a close friend of Brahms recalled that the composer “once showed him the place ‘on the wooded heights among the fir trees’ where the theme of the first movement came to him.”

The combination of the three instruments—horn, violin, and piano—was an innovation at the time but has since inspired a number of works for the same ensemble, including György Ligeti’s Hommage à Brahms, composed in 1982.

Today, the trio is generally performed with the valve horn, which was invented in the early 19th century and was in use in Germany and Austria when Brahms was composing the work. But the new system had not been generally accepted and was felt by some to compromise the “true” horn sound.

Brahms himself was reluctant to accept the new horn, and, aside from the fact that his father had taught him the Waldhorn, he wanted to integrate several of the natural horn’s characteristics into his trio, including the choice of keys and especially the issue of balance.

Structurally, the first movement of the trio is not in sonata form, as was common practice for the period. Brahms also varies the expected overall arc of the first movement by having the haunting, song-like main theme recur rondo-like between two rhapsodic interludes. After an agitated section, the movement fades to a tranquil conclusion.

The second movement is a lively scherzo with an unexpectedly lyrical interlude before a da capo repeat of the opening section. Subtle rhythmic shifts between triple and duple time are also heard. The third movement, Adagio mesto (sorrowful adagio), is the most overt reference to Brahms’ loss and the emotional core of the entire work. Near its conclusion is a dreamlike variation of a folksong believed to have been taught to Brahms by his mother, and the movement ends with a final expression of muted but deeply felt grief.

The trio as a whole concludes with a sense of resolution and an ebullient 6/8 rondo with horn calls and glittering piano passages. Only brief hints of the serious nature and harmonies of the previous movement are heard, and it ends with a triumphant E-flat-major chord. —Ross Care