Piano Trio no. 1 in G minor op. 11

On 8 February 1880, at the Salle Érard’s Sunday matinée, the audience discovered Cécile Chaminade’s Trio No. 1, her first chamber music piece. The twenty-two-year-old composer played the piano part, alongside the violinist Martin Marsick and the cellist Anton Hekking. The work was favourably received: according to Auguste Morel in Le Ménestrel, it was written “with an already firm and confident hand, revealing profound and abundant knowledge”. But under the praise lay hidden the usual prejudice against women. Denis Magnus, critic for Gil Blas, commenting on the third movement, which particularly caught his attention, wrote: “The Scherzo especially is notable for its original shape; it is deliberately personal, quite square-cut, and moreover exudes a freshness of ideas typical of a young lady.” As for Morel, he noted that “it almost sounded like a fantasia for piano rather than a chamber music piece”. But was this not precisely Cécile Chaminade’s own aesthetic? Though the Trio is based on classical forms (ABA’ for the Andante, sonata form for the first and last movements), it makes use of clear textures, and a light, yet virtuoso writing, especially in the piano part (thus attesting to the composer’s excellent technique). The bold modulations (particularly in the finale, which visits F sharp major and E major) fit into a music favouring an intermezzo-like mood(opening Allegro), a warm lyricism (Andante) and the spirit of a divertissement (last movement).