The earliest string-trio form, found in the early Classical period, consisted of two violins and a cello, a grouping which had grown out of the Baroque trio sonata, while over the course of the 19th century the string trio scored for violin, viola, and cello came to be the predominant type (Tilmouth and Smallman 2001).
Beginning in the second half of the 18th century, although the trio configuration for two violins and cello was not wholly abandoned in classical chamber music (even during the 19th century), the scoring for violin, viola, and cello began to take precedence. Joseph Haydn appears to have been the first composer to use this combination (Tilmouth and Smallman 2001), though he was soon emulated by Luigi Boccherini (Kennedy 1994).
Composer |
Composition |
Johann Georg Albrechtsberger (1736–1809) |
- Divertimento in C major
- Divertimento in F major
- Sonata I in C major
- Sonata II in E♭ major[vague]
- Terzetto in C major, Op. 9a, No. 1
- Terzetto in A major, Op. 9a, No. 2
- Terzetto in F major, Op. 9a, No. 3
- Terzetto in D major, Op. 9a, No. 4
- Terzetto in B♭ major, Op. 9a, No. 5
- Terzetto in E♭ major, Op. 9a, No. 6
|
Georges Aperghis (b. 1945) |
Faux mouvement (1995) |
J.S. Bach (1685–1750) |
Goldberg Variations, BWV 988 (1741) (Arr. by Dmitry Sitkovetsky, in memoriam Glenn Gould) |
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827) |
|
Wilhelm Berger (1861–1911) |
String Trio in G minor, Op. 69 |
Lennox Berkeley (1903–1989) |
Trio for strings, Op. 19 (1944) |
Howard Blake (b. 1938) |
String Trio, Op. 199 |
Luigi Boccherini (1743–1805) |
String Trios, G 95–100 and G 107–112 |
Carlos Chávez (1899–1978) |
Invención II (1965) |
Friedrich Cerha (1926-) |
9 Bagatellen (2008)
Zebra Trio (2010)
|
Matthew Davidson (b. 1964) |
Music for String Trio (2006) (Davidson n.d.) |
Karl Ditters von Dittersdorf (1739–1799) |
- Divertimento in D major
- Sonatas a tre, Op. 1, Nos. 1–6, k. 200–205
- Sonatas, Op. 2, Nos. 1–6, k. 212_17
|
Ernő Dohnányi (1877–1960) |
Serenade in C major, Op. 10 |
Gottfried von Einem (1918–1996) |
-
- String Trio, Op. 74
- String Trio (fragment without opus)
|
Anders Eliasson (1947–2013) |
Trio per archi "Ahnungen" (2013) |
George Enescu (1881–1955) |
Aubade, for violin, viola, and cello (Allegretto grazioso) |
Karlheinz Essl (b. 1960) |
à trois/seul (1998) |
Joseph Leopold Eybler (1765–1846) |
-
- String Trio Op. 2 in C major HV 197
- String Trio in E flat major (fragment) HV 248
|
Brian Ferneyhough (b. 1943) |
String Trio (1995) |
Jean Françaix (1912–1997) |
String Trio in C major, Op. 2 |
Robert Fuchs (1847–1927) |
String Trio in A major, Op. 94 |
de:Joseph Gehot (1756–1820) |
String Trios, Op. 2, Nos. 1–6 |
Yefim Golyshev (1897–1970) |
String Trio, Zwölftondauer-Komplexe (twelve-tone-duration complex) (1925) |
Jorge Grundman (b. 1961) |
-
- String Trio No. 1 in A♭ major
- String Trio No. 2 in G major
- String Trio No. 3 in C major
|
Sofia Gubaidulina (b. 1931) |
String Trio |
Joseph Haydn (1732–1809) |
String Trio in B major, Hob. V:8 |
Swan Hennessy (1866–1929) |
Petit trio celtique, Op. 52 (1921) |
Heinrich von Herzogenberg (1843–1900) |
String Trios, Op. 27, Nos. 1 & 2 |
Paul Hindemith (1895–1963) |
-
- String Trio No. 1, Op. 34
- String Trio No. 2
- Des kleinen Elektromusikers Lieblinge
|
Gilad Hochman (b. 1982) |
Brief Memories for String Trio (2004) (Hochman n.d.). |
Franz Anton Hoffmeister (1754–1812) |
Terzetto Scholastico Streichtrio |
Vagn Holmboe (1909–1996) |
Gioco (Game) for string trio (1983) |
Julius Hopfe (1817–1891) |
-
- String Trio no. 1 in C major, Op. 41
- String Trio no. 2 in G minor, Op. 69
|
Johann Nepomuk Hummel (1778–1837) |
-
- String Trio no. 1 in E♭ major
- String Trio no. 2 in G major
|
André Jolivet (1905–1974) |
Suite for String trio |
Gideon Klein (1919–1945) |
String Trio (1944) |
Zoltán Kodály (1882–1967) |
Intermezzo-Allegretto |
Hans Krása (1899–1944) |
-
- TANEC, for string trio
- Passacaglia and Fugue, for string trio
|
Ernst Krenek 1900–1991) |
-
- String Trio, Op. 118
- String Trio Parvula Corona Musicalis: ad honorem Johannis Sebastiani Bach, Op. 122
- String Trio in 12 Stations, Op. 235
|
Frank Martin (1890–1974) |
Trio (1936) |
Donald Martino (1931–2005) |
String Trio (1954) |
Bohuslav Martinů (1890–1959) |
String Trio No. 1, H. 136 (1923) |
Siegfried Matthus (b. 1934) |
Windspiele, for string trio |
Darius Milhaud (1892–1974) |
-
- Sonatine à trois, Op. 221b (1940)
- String Trio, Op. 274 (1947)
|
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791) |
|
Ernst Naumann (1832–1910) |
Trio in D major, Op. 12 |
Ștefan Niculescu (1927–2008) |
-
- String Trio (1957, rev. 1977)
- Per Tre (1985)
|
Krzysztof Penderecki (b. 1933) |
String Trio (1990–91) |
Václav Pichl (1741–1805) |
-
- String Trios, Op. 4, Nos. 1–6
- Trios concertans, Op. 7, Nos. 1–6
|
Wayne Peterson (b. 1927) |
String Trio (2007) |
Ignaz Pleyel (1757–1831) |
3 String Trios, B 401–403 |
Max Reger (1873–1916) |
-
- String Trio no. 1 in A minor, Op. 77b
- String Trio No. 2 in D minor, Op. 141b
|
Carl Reinecke (1824–1910) |
String Trio in C minor, Op. 249 |
Wolfgang Rihm (b. 1952) |
Musik für drei Streicher (1977) |
Alessandro Rolla (1757–1841) |
-
- String Trio in E♭ major, Op. 11
- String Trios, BI 341, 342, 343, 344, 346, 347, 348, 349, 351, 397, 405, 410
|
Guy Ropartz (1864–1955) |
Trio in A minor for Strings (1934–35) |
Albert Roussel (1896–1937) |
String Trio, Op. 58 |
Kaija Saariaho (1952-) |
Cloud Trio (2009) |
Ernest Sauter (1928–2013) |
-
- Trio no. 1 (1999)
- Ballade (2001)
- Trio No. 3, Trois mouvements contrastés (2007)
|
Giacinto Scelsi (1905–1988) |
Trio for strings (1958) |
Alfred Schnittke (1934–1998) |
String Trio (1985) |
Arnold Schoenberg (1874–1951) |
String Trio, Op. 45 (1946) |
Franz Schubert (1797–1828) |
|
Jean Sibelius (1865–1957) |
-
- Suite (Trio) in A major (1889, revised 1912)
- Trio in G minor (1893–94)
|
Robert Simpson (1921–1997) |
String Trio (1987) |
Nikos Skalkottas (1904–1949) |
String Trio No. 2 (1935) |
Miroslav Srnka (1975-) |
Tree of Heaven (2010) |
Karlheinz Stockhausen (1928–2007) |
Hoffnung (2007) (Günther 2008) |
Sergei Taneyev (1856–1915) |
String Trio in D major (1880) |
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840–1893) |
Allegretto moderato (1863–64) |
Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887–1959) |
String Trio (1945) |
Graham Waterhouse (b. 1962) |
|
Rolf Wallin (1957-) |
Sway (2010) |
Anton Webern (1883–1945) |
-
- Satz for String Trio, Op. posth.
- String Trio (1927), his first instrumental work using the twelve tone technique
|
Egon Wellesz (1885–1974) |
-
- String Trio, Op. 86 (1962)
- Four Works for string trio, Op. 105 (1969, second version 1971)
|
John Woolrich (b. 1954) |
String Trio (1996) |
Charles Wuorinen (b. 1938) |
String Trio (1968) |
Iannis Xenakis (1922–2001) |
Ikhoor {Ιχώρ} (1978) |
La Monte Young (1935) |
Trio (1958) |
Bernd Alois Zimmermann (1918–1970) |
Trio (1944) |
Composer |
Composition |
Alexander Alyabyev (1787–1851) |
Variations on a Russian folk song |
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827) |
String Trio in E minor, Hess 29 |
Luigi Boccherini (1743–1805) |
-
- String Trios, G 77–94, 101–106, 113–36, 577–78 (for some of the trios, authorship is uncertain)
- Divertimenti G 137–42 (authorship doubtful)
|
Alexander Borodin (1833–1887) |
String Trio in G minor on a Russian folk song |
de:Siegfried Borris (1906–1987) |
Terzettino |
Werner Egk (1901–1983) |
Trio in G minor |
de:Joseph Gehot (1756–1820) |
String Trios, Op. 5, Nos. 1–6 |
Peter Hänsel (1770–1831) |
-
- String Trio in D major
- String Trio in F major
- String Trio in C major
- Streichtrio in F major, Op. 40, No. 1
- Streichtrio in G minor, Op. 40, No. 2
- Streichtrio in E major, Op. 40, No. 3
|
Joseph Haydn (1732–1809) |
-
- String Trios, Hob. V:1–21 (except Hob. V:8)
- String Trios, Hob. V:F1, D1, B1, G1, D3, A2, C1, C4 (authorship doubtful)
|
Franz Anton Hoffmeister (1754–1812) |
-
- 6 String Trios, Op. 22
- 3 String Trios, Op. 37
- 6 Trios Progressives, Op. 28
|
Wilhelm Killmayer (b. 1927) |
Trio for two violins and cello |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791) |
String Trio in B♭ major, K. 266/271f |
Ignaz Pleyel (1757–1831) |
-
- 6 String Trios, B 404–409
- 3 String Trios, B 410–12
- 3 String Trios, B 413–15
|
de:Johann Mederitsch (1752–1835) |
Fantasia Terza |
Joseph Schuster (1748–1812) |
String Trio in A minor |
Johann Baptist Wanhal (1739–1813) |
-
- String Trios, Op. 5, Nos. 1–6
- String Trios, Op. 12, Nos. 1–6
- String Trios, Op. 17, Nos. 1–6
|