Trio No. 1

Dedication: “To Tatyana Ivanovna Glivenko”
Duration: 14'

"Trio. There is a good deal of lyricism in it, many fine phrases and lines. Particularly pleasing is the arrangement where I succeeded in creating a relatively dialectic effect"

From a letter to an unknown correspondent

Trio No. 1, op.8

  Trio for piano, violin, and violoncello No. 1, Op. 8 was written in 1923. It was Shostakovich’s first major composition during his conservatory years. This Trio was dedicated to Tatyana Ivanovna Glivenko.
  Shostakovich began working directly on Trio while taking a cure during the summer in the Crimea. Here he made the acquaintance of a young Moscow woman called Tatyana Glivenko. His young infatuation inspired him to write the new score. In August, he wrote Glivenko, who had by this time returned to Moscow, a letter from Gaspra: “I have begun composing a Trio for the piano, violin, and violoncello. I hope you don’t mind that I am dedicating it to you. I think it will be one-movement, in the form of an Allegro sonata with a very large development, into which Andante and Scherzo fragments will be directly incorporated.
  The literature indicates that Trio No. 1 was composed in the Crimea (Koreiz and Gaspra), as well as in Petrograd. But in the list of works which most likely relates to 1932, Shostakovich indicated that Trio, Op. 8 was written in Moscow and Petrograd.
  The premiere of Trio took place on 13 December 1923 in the hall of the Petrograd Conservatory in a concert of the works of student composers. The successful premiere was followed by several performances of Trio during 1924-1925.
  In October 1925, well-known Austrian composer Franz Schrecker came to Leningrad for the performance of his opera Distant Call. A concert was arranged in his honour at the conservatory, the programme of which included Shostakovich’s Trio.
  Trio was a huge success. “The Berlin university professor liked my Trio, which I in no way expected, —the composer informed the same person in a letter of 25 October. —He conveyed through his interpreter many good things and wished me health and success. We performed the Trio very well. Violinist Sher was particularly brilliant and, without any false modesty, I will say that pianist Shostakovich was too. Violoncellist Vinogradov was also good, considering he played after only three rehearsals. But he was much worse than Pekker, who played the violoncello part earlier. The large audience was enthralled by Trio. There was thunderous applause and they encored the composer.”
  After the sensational premiere of the First Symphony a few months later, Trio, Op. 8, as most of Shostakovich’s early works, fell into oblivion. It made its comeback after it was published in Collected Works following the composer’s death.