During the initial composition of the work, Mendelssohn took the advice of fellow composer Ferdinand Hiller to revise the piano part.

Hiller wrote, "with his usual conscientious earnestness when once he had made up his mind, he undertook the length and rewrite the whole pianoforte part.

Indeed, the revised piece was reviewed by Schumann, who declared Mendelssohn to be "the Mozart of the nineteenth century, the brightest musician, who most clearly understands the contradictions of the age and is the first to reconcile them.

[3] The trio was premiered on February 1, 1840, at the Leipzig Gewandhaus by violinist Ferdinand David, cellist Franz Karl Witmann, and Mendelssohn at the piano.

"[4] In 1898, the Musical Times had an interview with the violinist, Joseph Joachim, who recalled the performance in London in 1844, in which the composer was the pianist once again.

After Hiller gave Mendelssohn his advice, the finale was the most revised movement and unsurprisingly has a busy piano part.

Various keyboard techniques are called upon in the movement, from close chords to sweeping arpeggios and chromatic octaves.