Mendelssohn’s piano trios are among the most popular and frequently played works within the genre. Both trios are such recognised works and display such perfection...

Mendelssohn’s piano trios are among the most popular and frequently played works within the genre. Both trios are such recognised works and display such perfection of form and content that one might well imagine that they flowed effortlessly from the composer’s pen without a moment’s doubt or hesitation. But was this actually so? In the course of recording the two Mendelssohn trios we had the opportunity to examine a copy of the manuscripts of both works. We were astonished to discover that the manuscript of the first trio displayed considerable differences from the work that we were familiar with as the celebrated Trio in D minor. Further investigation revealed that this was an early version of the same trio, completed in July 1839, nine months before the first edition of the definitive version. To our even greater astonishment it turned out that this version was not just a rough sketch but a complete work, which had undoubtedly stood the test of time even without Mendelssohn’s later revisions. It was incredible to discover a masterpiece by his hand that was unknown to us. To be sure, it was largely the same as or closely related to the trio that we were familiar with, but there were also wonderful passages that were totally new to us.