Ernest Chausson

Klaviertrio g-moll op. 3

After early elimination from the competition for the "Prix de Rome," the coveted award for composition students at the Paris Conservatoire, Chausson withdrew to the countryside in the summer of 1881 and began, as it were out of spite, to compose this ambitious work. During his lifetime, however, the trio remained an insider's tip in the circle of his teacher César Franck. Only after its posthumous publication was it performed more often and gradually recognized as one of the best chamber music works of its time. Closely based on Franck's principle of cyclical interlocking of all motives, it nevertheless has its own darkly melancholy tone. The Henle Urtextedition is the first critical edition and a welcome addition to our repertoire of French music.