Life of Mozart

——TRIO IN E FLAT, I788. 17Duets and trios for stringed instruments were naturallyheld in less esteem than string quartets. Mozart composedin Vienna (September 27, 1788), for some unspecifiedoccasion, a trio for violin, viola, and violoncello, in E flatmajor (563 K.), which consists of six movements, after themanner of a divertimento—allegro, adagio, minuet, andantewith variations, minuet, rondo. The omission of the oneinstrument increases the difficulty of composing a piece fullin sound and characteristic in movement, more than couldhave been imagined ; the invention and skill of the composerare taxed to the utmost. It is evident that this only gavethe work an additional charm to Mozart. Each of the sixmovements is broadly designed and carried out with equalcare and devotion, making this trio unquestionably one ofMozart's finest works. No one performer is preferred beforethe other, but each, if he does his duty, may distinguishhimself in his own province. With wonderful discrimination,too, every technical device is employed which can givean impulse to any happy original idea. How beautifully, forinstance, is the simple violoncello passage which ushers inthe adagio^^ E^transformed into the emphatic one for the violincoinedin due time, with climacteric effect, by the viola andvioloncello.The violin-jumps in the same adagioare effective only in their proper position ; and all theresources at command are made subservient to the art whichis to produce the living work.III.c