A clarinet-violin-piano trio is a chamber musical ensemble made up of one clarinet, one violin, and one piano, or the name of a piece written for such a group. The idea of a clarinet-violin-piano trio is relatively modern. The clarinet-viola-piano trio existed several hundred years before the clarinet-violin-piano trio; Mozart composed his famous Kegelstatt Trio in the 18th century, and the Romantic composer Max Bruch composed a suite of eight pieces for this combination, as well as a double concerto for viola, clarinet, and orchestra. Many of these works can be (or already have been) transcribed for a clarinet-violin-piano trio. Most compositions for this arrangement were composed in the 20th century, including some atonal pieces. Unlike a piano trio or a concerto, there is no standard form for a composition for a clarinet-violin-piano trio; a piece can have any number of movements, at any tempo, in any key. Acoustically, the choice of a clarinet, violin, and piano is strange. Most chamber music (and most music in general) contains high (soprano), mid-range (alto/tenor), and low (bass/baritone) parts. Both a clarinet and a violin play relatively high-pitched parts, making for a less-balanced sound than a trio that contains all sounds, such as a violin-cello-piano trio.
Composers of Clarinet-Violin-Piano Trios
(This is an incomplete list.)
- Béla Bartók
- Alban Berg
- William Bolcom
- Donald Erb
- John Harbison
- Jeffrey Harrington
- Alan Hovhaness
- Charles Ives
- Aram Khachaturian
- Ernst Krenek
- Edward Manukyan
- Gian Carlo Menotti
- Darius Milhaud
- Rick Sowash
- Igor Stravinsky
- Johann Baptist Vanhal
Current Clarinet-Violin-Piano Trio Groups
(This is an incomplete list.)
- The Nordica Trio
- The Bellerive Trio
- The Pamina Trio
- The Verdehr Trio
- The Sapphire Trio
