Presented with this young student, Mendelssohn invited him, along with violinist Ferdinand David, to read through parts of his new piano trio.

[3] The trio offered inspiration to Johannes Brahms, with the opening theme of the finale being referenced in the scherzo of his Piano Sonata No.

The gentle entry of the violin and cello on top of the rocking line in the piano turns the movement into a Duett ohne Worte.

[3] Described by Mendelssohn as "a trifle nasty to play," the scherzo movement follows a rondo design full of imitative passages being passed through the three instruments.

Reminiscent of a trifle, the three instruments enter offset by an eighth note in the fast moving line, creating a stacking effect.

After the introduction of the initial theme, the work quotes Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ, and then expands to also include a sixteenth-century Genevan psalter tune, known in English as Old Hundredth from its association with the Psalm 100 (William Kethe), as the culminating melody.