Composed in 1846, the Piano Trio in G minor, opus 17 by Clara Schumann is considered her greatest, most mature four-movement work.
At the first rehearsal of the trio with a violinist and cellist, she wrote in her diary, "There is nothing greater than the joy of composing something oneself, and then listening to it.
While in Norderney, Clara suffered a miscarriage before returning home to complete the work in September.
The work received its first Sony Classical recording in 2022 with Anne-Sophie Mutter, Pablo Ferrández, and Lambert Orkis.
Many performers, though not all, consider Schumann's trio to be as integral to the chamber music repertoire as her husband's.
The structure of the movement is Sonata form (made up of the Exposition, Development, and Recapitulation), with a Codetta and then a Coda.
These contrasts between the cello and piano successfully create the mood of the "Tempo di minuetto".
In the middle of movement all three parts play dotted rhythms, which contribute to the contrast of the emotion of the piece.