The piano trio is a genre with which Brahms had a strange history.  His earliest chamber work was the original version of the First Piano Trio in B major from 1854.  A trio in A major was discovered in 1924 with no attribution and published in 1938.  While this work is considered likely to be an unpublished early work of Brahms that came sometime after the B-major, this claim is still looked upon with skepticism.  The next work in trio form was the “Horn Trio” in E-flat from 1868.  Before he published his second official standard piano trio, he had already composed all three piano quartets, all three string quartets, all his choral works with orchestra except the last (with which the trio is contemporary), the first two symphonies, and three of his four concertos.  The C-major piano trio is thus a work of the highest maturity, from the milieu of the Third Symphony.  He completed the first movements of two trios in E-flat major and C major and showed them both to friends, but he abandoned the E-flat piece.  When offering the C-major for publication, he was uncharacteristically effusive in his assessment of the work, writing to his publisher Simrock that “you have not so far had such a beautiful trio from me and very probably have not published one to match it in the last ten years.”  It is a work that is rich with strong content but is never unrestrained or undisciplined.  The two string instruments are frequently treated as a single unit and play in octaves to an unusually large extent.  Indeed, all four movements begin with the strings in octaves.  The first movement is an impressive structure whose themes exude confidence and vitality.  They are also very ripe for development, and the most impressive moment is near the center, where the main theme is given in a waltz-like variant in the distant key of D-flat major.  This variant also returns in the coda.  The second movement is a noble theme and variations in A minor whose theme has the unusual structure of an eight-measure section followed by one of nineteen measures, the latter separated into a twelve-bar main portion and a seven-measure codetta.  This structure is maintained for all the five variations except for an expansion of the codetta in the last one.  The scherzo is short but complex, like a compressed version of the developmental scherzo movements he wrote for the first two piano quartets and the piano quintet.  The spectral minor-key main section is balanced by a very warm, but very brief major-key trio section.  The finale is an exuberant sonata-rondo form with a huge coda and an unusually drawn-out re-transition from the development.  The opening of its main theme with a distinctive F-sharp, a tritone above the keynote C, has a striking resemblance to the theme from The Simpsons, first heard a little over a hundred years later!  Despite the length of the coda and re-transition, the movement is short, in line with Brahms’s tendency toward tightly argued finales in his later chamber works.  Other than his very first published work, the First Piano Sonata, this is surprisingly his only multi-movement work with a key center of C major, although the First Symphony, nominally in C minor, has a finale that is mostly in C major, and the Third Piano Trio in C minor also ends in major.  That last piano trio came as part of a triptych that also included the Second Cello Sonata and Second Violin Sonata in 1887.  He would then compose the revised version of the B-major trio in 1889 (publishing it in 1891), and the “Clarinet” Trio” followed in 1892.

IMSLP WORK PAGE
ONLINE SCORE FROM IMSLP (First Edition from Brahms-Institut Lübeck)
ONLINE SCORE FROM IMSLP (Later Simrock Edition [monochrome] from Berlin State Library)
ONLINE SCORE FROM IMSLP (From Breitkopf & Härtel Sämtliche Werke)

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1^st Movement: Allegro (Sonata-Allegro form). C MAJOR, 3/4 time.
EXPOSITION
0:00 [m. 1]--Theme 1.  The strings in octaves present the distinctive opening gesture, boldly starting on the keynote C before a downward-leaping long-short rhythm jumps again to a descent in thirds on the “dominant” arpeggio.  An octave leap on the “dominant” note G leads to the piano entry in the fourth measure after the downbeat, with both hands playing widely spaced broken octaves moving inward (C in the right hand and E in the left).  The strings hold the G, then slide up by half-step to A.  The piano also slides up to an A-major chord.  Another inward off-beat piano octave a step higher is followed by a further string slide up to B, a piano chord on B minor, and another inward leap a third higher than the second one.
0:12 [m. 9]--The strings, still in octaves, begin to move more continuously after the held B, using long-short rhythms and then faster eighth-notes.  The inward piano octaves become continuous, but the hands are no longer tied to each other when moving between pitches.  The suggestion of B minor, though strong, is undermined by the note F-natural, which appears in the piano, then the strings, who finally separate from their octaves and harmonize in the eleventh measure of the movement.  They tentatively separate rhythmically at the end of the next measure.  The continuous inward piano octaves have disrupted the 3/4 meter.  Six of them are played over four measures, arriving finally back at the “dominant” harmony on G.
0:20 [m. 13]--Now more subdued, the cello leads on a gesture with an upward-rising third, a held note, and then a downward-leaping fifth, the violin imitating a beat later.  The piano responds with an arpeggio in C major, incorporating a long-short rhythm and partly harmonized, the hands doubled an octave apart.  This entire pattern is repeated a step higher, with D-minor harmony, but the piano arpeggio eliminates the long-short rhythm and continues upward, building in volume.  A third sequence is heard another step higher, with E-minor harmony, and now the piano arpeggio is faster, played in triplet rhythm.  The piano emerges into a forceful turning gesture supported by bass octaves and string double stops, arriving strongly on G.
0:32 [m. 21]--The second element of the Theme 1 complex begins here, with more sliding motion in string harmony.  An arching line is imitated by the piano bass while the strings linger on a syncopated repetition of G.  Finally, the piano’s right hand imitates the arching line as the strings play two-note slurs.  The harmony is chromatic, with inflections toward G minor.  The piano then emerges on the two-note slurs, using octaves and thirds, passing them between the hands or joining the hands together, leaping out and back in.  These are again in two-beat meter-disrupting groups.  The strings have three more statements of the arching line, harmonized in thirds before rising in two-note slurs, all building to another strong arrival
0:43 [m. 29]--With this forte arrival, the three instruments are now all in two-beat groups, fully disrupting the regular 3/4 flow.  The piano has descending harmonies with octaves and thirds, and its left hand has leaping octaves, sliding from G to A-flat and back.  The strings have more two-note slurs and briefly come together again in octaves.  The piano finally pauses after the first of three chords leading to a strong cadence in C-major, all separated by rests and continuing the two-beat grouping.  Against this, the strings begin to restore the meter with leaping gestures in harmony hinting back at the long-short rhythm from their opening gesture.  A string chord follows the third piano chord leading to the satisfying cadence.
0:49 [m. 33]--Transition.  It begins with a grand restatement of the opening idea from the strings in octaves.  The piano has leaping chords in the right hand, alternating with octaves in the left that shadow the theme, but still retain the two-beat groupings, which clash with the strings.  This only continues for two measures, after which the piano emerges into a series of syncopated chords with octaves and thirds against leaps of two octaves in each measure in the left hand.  The hands move in and out in contrary motion.  Meanwhile, the strings separate, harmonize, and extend the thematic idea three measures beyond the notes of its original statement.  There is harmonic motion away from C major, now strongly toward D minor.
0:58 [m. 39]--The strings are in octaves again (at first two octaves apart) and remain solidly anchored to the note D.  They hold it, then dip down an octave and back up to another held note, then do this again with the violin moving down an octave on the held note, the volume diminishing.  They repeat the gesture a third time leading to a fourth held D.  The piano punctuates each string gesture with four forceful outward-leaping chords.  These initially suggest D minor, but include harmonies of F minor, then F major, then hints of A minor as they quiet down.  Under the softer fourth held string D, the piano’s fourth sequence of chords moves toward C minor, and the strings finally move away from D, dipping down and back up on C.
1:10 [m. 47]--The piano’s chords now suggest a motion toward G, which is expected, but G minor is implied rather than G major.  After a second downward leap on C, only from the violin, the piano repeats the same chord sequence, now inserting a downbeat rest, but the violin breaks into a faster downward-arching line in G minor.  The piano restates the chord sequence with the rest as the cello plays the same downward-arching line an octave lower.  Finally, the violin takes the downward arch again, the piano has one more D-major chord off the downbeat, and the violin line quickly changes from G minor to G major.  It is passed to the cello, which extends the line by arching up and back down and finally trailing down.
1:26 [m. 57]--Theme 2 (G major).  Against a low cello G, the piano presents the warm, but highly chromatic dolce theme.  Its right hand rises and falls in rich harmony, holding the highest chord over a bar line, while the left hand plays continual rising arpeggios in triplet rhythm.  The cello dips down on the second two-measure gesture from the piano.  Now pianissimo, both strings hold a C three octaves apart while the piano line expands and becomes even more chromatic, diverting the harmony to F minor and then F major in two gestures.  After holding another chord over a bar line, the piano moves back to “dominant” harmony in G major.  The left hand’s triplets change direction before rising in slower “straight” rhythm.
1:40 [m. 65]--The piano trails away, and the strings take over the Theme 2 presentation, preceded by a measure with harmony and an arpeggio again suggesting G minor.  They play the two two-measure gestures as the piano enters with a rising arpeggio staggered between the hands on and off the beat.  A slight change at the end leads to a held D rather than C, and the piano takes over the expansion of the theme, now a step (plus an octave) higher than before and landing back on G major, where the cello plays a rising arpeggio.
1:55 [m. 73]--The strings repeat the piano’s “expansion,” but with different harmony, the cello a third below the violin where the piano had been in sixths.  The piano plays arching triplets on B, then reaches up on that note before finally emerging on an arpeggio and harmonic undulation in E major, a harmony also held by the strings.  The piano’s undulation dips down, still on E major, with a held E in the bass, as the strings move to a new harmony, A minor, where the piano plays another arpeggio and harmonic undulation.  That harmony is maintained as the piano bass dips to low C and its right hand has a rising gesture.  All three instruments reach a brief pause, holding for a full measure.
2:08 [m. 80]--Theme 2, part 2.  The key of G major strives to re-establish itself as the strings emerge into a dolce series of descending gestures in octaves, beginning each measure with a triplet figure and shifting the pattern down twice over three measures.  The piano plays a series of quiet, detached octaves (with lower bass harmonies) that arch upward, also gradually moving down.  In the third measure, the strings add another triplet on the third beat on the same notes.  All instruments arrest their motion somewhat in the fourth measure with a “diminished seventh” harmony again pointing toward A minor.
2:15 [m. 84]--The instruments are reversed, with the piano now taking the descending gestures in right-hand octaves and the strings the upward-arching octaves.  The piano’s left hand moves with the strings.  In the third measure, as before, the triplet is added to the third beat, but this now leads into an extension with the descending gestures in two-beat units going against the triplet meter.  After a third statement on the same notes, the figure moves upward over a strong crescendo.  From that third measure, there are six two-beat units over four bars.  Despite the extension and the upward turn, the endpoint is the same as the last passage, a “diminished seventh” harmony pointing toward A minor, which now arrives.
2:25 [m. 90]--The piano breaks into a loud sequence of long-short figures in which the “short” note is split into two even shorter notes (32nd notes).  It begins in A minor, with the hands far apart and moving inward, both with the gestures themselves and from the first to the second gesture.  Meanwhile, the two strings have figures beginning on the second beat, starting an octave apart and moving continually inward by half-step.  After the second measure of these patterns, the strings drop out and the piano pauses on the second beat with a colorful and ambiguous “augmented” chord before continuing.  This happens again in the fourth bar.
2:32 [m. 94]--The patterns begin again in A minor, but this time both the piano and strings move outward instead of inward.  After the second measure, the long-short figure is passed to the strings.  The piano again lands on an “augmented” chord, but it is different and points toward C minor.  The strings straighten out the next descent to a triplet rhythm and quiet down before moving to the original figure.  With a temporary arrival on C minor, the violin has a longer long-short rhythm.  Syncopated harmonies and octaves briefly establish two-beat units, with the piano’s left hand offset from its right hand and the strings, gradually working back toward G major, confirmed by a descending “dominant” arpeggio in piano octaves.
2:46 [m. 102]--Closing material.  The piano has gentle grazioso figures in its right hand, leaping up and down in a long-short rhythm.  The left hand has triplet arpeggios.  These are organized in two-beat patterns, establishing a hemiola or cross-meter.  The cello punctuates the back half of each pattern with a plucked chord.  After two measures, the violin enters with smooth leaping motion.  Although beginning firmly in G, the lines become increasingly chromatic.  By the fifth measure, the harmony has moved toward E-flat, with some emphasis on A-flat.  The leaping motion moves to the bowed cello, and the violin takes the plucked chords.  This continues for five measures, with the cello breaking briefly on the third and fifth bars.
3:01 [m. 111]--The hemiola cross-meter breaks, and the prevailing 3/4 pulse is re-established with a strong motion back to G major.  The piano’s long-short figures move up chromatically, supported by left-hand chords, before falling toward a suspended arrival on G.  The cello then repeats the pattern just played by the right hand, but without the long-short rhythm.  The cadence is again suspended, this time with a full rest on the downbeat before the piano plays three octave G’s in both hands.  The first two are two beats, and the third, coming on the last beat of the measure, is held leading into the following transition.
3:13 [m. 117]--Transition to development section.  The piano, both hands still in octaves, begins to break those octaves with an undulating motion in triplet rhythm.  The strings, in harmony, have smooth chromatic rising motion.  After two measures, they hold a note over a bar line while the piano briefly moves down a half-step to F-sharp before quickly moving back to G.  At that point, the strings repeat their gesture leading to a held note, and the sequence is repeated for another measure.  Everything is at a hushed, quiet level.
3:20 [m. 121]--The piano and strings reverse roles, with the strings moving to the broken octave G in triplet rhythm, the instruments moving in opposite directions.  The piano has the smooth chromatic rising motion with rich harmony in both hands.  It follows the same pattern the strings did, except that the chord held over a bar line suggests E-flat major, and the string undulation moves to a third on E-flat and G instead of an octave F-sharp.
3:27 [m. 125]--After completing the expected four-measure sequence, the instruments press forward for four more, the piano steadily rising in its chords held over bar lines, with the strings also adjusting their motion on the downbeats while consistently returning to the octave G.  The volume builds steadily.  After the piano holds two “diminished” chords over bar lines, it arrives on a G-major chord in the third measure.  The violin moves up an octave as the intensity increases.  Having arrived on G, the piano increases its motion, leaping to G-major chords in three two-beat units over two measures.  The buildup reaches forte, and the last G-major chord from the piano is punctuated by the strings, leading back to Theme 1.
DEVELOPMENT
3:33 [m. 129]--The development begins with an arrival of Theme 1 in C major, prepared by the G-major harmony, but only its first four measures are presented before a deviation.  Quieting a bit, the strings continue their octave leaps, moving to A-flat and then B-flat, and underneath them, the piano shifts its harmonies to D-flat and E-flat, adding faster inward arpeggios on “diminished” chords.  Now the strings do not hold their note, but quickly move to C, adding syncopation to their octave leap and building in volume.  This faster motion continues, with the strings moving to E-flat, then leaping up an octave to another E-flat as the piano harmonies move to F minor and G minor, bridged by the “diminished” arpeggios.
3:49 [m. 139]--The strings land on a D two octaves apart.  The piano plays a loud G-minor chord on the second beat, and the strings leap down an octave on the third.  Another G-minor chord follows on the next downbeat, the strings leap down again on the second beat of that measure and finally, over a “dominant” chord on D, the strings move outward in faster notes beginning off the beat.  The violin, including the held note, plays an upward group of six and the cello a downward group of five.  Both lead again toward G.
3:52 [m. 141]--The music from 2:25 [m. 90] returns, beginning in G minor.  This time, the strings, moving inward and beginning far apart, play the first long-short figure with the short note divided into 32nd notes.  The piano takes this over for the last two beats of the measure, and the strings play their inward-moving half-steps.  The second measure is the same, but the strings move back out at the end.  In the third measure, the piano takes over on the first beat, beginning at the same level but making a harmonic shift down toward F minor.  The piano lands on the “dominant” chord in that key on the second beat as the strings play the long-short figure.  The piano and strings alternate on this figure each beat through the next measure.
3:59 [m. 145]--The strings, in harmony two octaves plus a third apart, play a rising F-minor scale, using its slightly major-inflected “melodic” form.  At the top, the piano plays the long-short figure with 32nd notes again, landing on a D-flat chord, and the strings begin another harmonized scale, now the “natural” F-minor scale.  Shifting yet again to C minor, the strings now break into music derived from the Theme 1 complex at 0:32 [m. 21].  Against this, the piano plays the long-short figure with 32nd notes in two-beat cross-meter units.  The regular pulse is restored as the strings punctuate a cadence in C minor.
4:08 [m. 151]--Another sequence begins on the music from 2:25 [m. 90], starting in C minor, but this time the piano has the long-short figure with 32nd notes on the first beat and the strings follow on the second and third beats, reversed from the previous passage.  The piano has the inward-moving harmony at the end of the first measure, moving back out at the end of the second.  In the third measure, continuing the reversal from 3:52 [m. 141], the strings are on the first beat, fortissimo.  The harmonic shift is now toward B-flat minor.  The piano plays the long-short figure on the second beat, then alternates with the strings on this figure on each beat through the next measure
4:14 [m. 155]--The piano now has the scale, each hand playing in octaves, the bottom of the right hand a third above the top of the left.  It is the B-flat-minor scale in its “melodic” form, following the previous pattern.  The strings then play the long-short figure over a harmony on G-flat, and the piano, now with each hand harmonized in thirds, plays the “natural” version of the B-flat-minor scale.  The music from 0:32 [m. 21] follows as expected with the expected shift to F minor, but continuing the reversal, it is played by the piano.  The strings have the long-short figure with 32nd notes in two-beat cross-meter units.  A cadence in F minor is expected, but the piano pushes forward and makes a “deceptive” motion, avoiding the full arrival.
4:24 [m. 161]--Just before the “deceptive” motion, the strings have broken their two-beat units.  The “deceptive” motion is to a chord of D-flat major, but the key remains F minor.  The strings play the patterns from 0:32 [m. 21], now without the opening gesture.  The piano has the long-short figures with 32nd notes, first in the bass and then, after a held note over a bar line, two quick gestures from both hands, sliding up a half-step between them.  The harmonies in the strings fluctuate between F minor and D-flat major.  The piano joins them in the third bar, with the figures shortened to two-beat cross-meter units.  The second of these appears to lead to another emphatic F-minor cadence, but it is again “deceptively” avoided.
4:30 [m. 165]--Now the “deceptive” motion is a full key change to D-flat major.  Brahms marks this arrival “animato” to avoid a slowing of tempo.  The primary interest is in the cello, which plays a warm version of Theme 1 in D-flat major, with the notes stretched out in “augmentation,” and beginning on the third of the scale instead of the keynote.  The first phrase ends with a wide leap of a tenth to a held C, which is now the “leading” note.  As the cello begins its melody, the piano breaks into hushed but joyously active patterns, with wide-leaping triplet motion in the right hand against tremolo D-flats in the left.  The tremolo breaks every other measure and resumes after three-note upbeats in straight rhythm based on the theme.
4:40 [m. 173]--The violin enters and takes over the “augmented” Theme 1 variant.  The cello, continuing from its presentation, isolates a descending arpeggio, playing it four times and shifting with the harmony.  The piano’s patterns continue, still pianissimo, but the left-hand figures that break the tremolo are incorporated into the triplet motion.  The harmonic motion is active.  The phrase begins with a direct shift to minor (notated as C-sharp minor), and then proceeds through the “circle of fifths” (outlined by the bass tremolo, through F-sharp, B, and finally arriving on E (which is “relative” to C-sharp minor) at the end of the phrase.  The wide leap of a tenth in the violin is now to a held B, the “dominant” note in E major.
4:51 [m. 181]--The violin statement is extended.  The piano bass tremolo again moves to C-sharp, then down to B, A, and back to B, but the key remains centered on E major.  At the first of these bass motions, the cello and violin come together in harmony, holding a note over a bar line before the violin again sweeps down on the thematic gesture.  Brahms marks “poco sostenuto” here, indicating that the intensity should gradually abate.  Another violin note held over a bar line, this time with the cello moving against it, leads to a cadence in E major, completed by the piano alone.
5:00 [m. 189]--Re-transition.  The piano’s cadence is abrupt, and the strings immediately move strongly to the music from the second part of Theme 1 at 0:32 [m. 21], which has become ubiquitous.  They are closely imitated by the piano bass.  The key seems to shift from E major to A minor, with E acting as a “dominant” harmony.  The strings land on a repeated and syncopated E as the piano’s right hand moves up by half-step in high octaves.  At that point, the strings in octaves break into a figure related to the original downward-leaping long-short motion from the Theme itself.  This lands on C major, which is of course the home key.
5:06 [m. 193]--The arrival on C major is only anticipatory and transitory.  The previous pattern is played again with reversed instrumentation.  The piano has the music from the second part of Theme 1, now in F minor, but the imitation is still in the piano bass.  The strings in octaves have the high upward half-step motion as the right hand plays the repeated syncopated note, now C.  The leaping Theme 1 figure is also played on the piano, landing on A-flat major.  The “relative” relationship between F minor and A-flat major follows the previous pattern of A minor and C major.
5:12 [m. 197]--The music now lingers on A-flat.  The piano’s right hand has syncopated octaves on that note while the left hand, in low bass octaves, refers to the second part of Theme 1.  The right hand obtains harmony and begins to move, with upper or lower notes held to continue the syncopation.  The strings, still in octaves, play the leaping Theme 1 figure, and then they move to the syncopated A-flat and subsequent harmonies.  The piano bass is as before, but its right hand has the leaping Theme 1 figure.
5:18 [m. 201]--The re-transition now becomes extremely active and agitated.  The violin and cello separate and overlap on the leaping Theme 1 figure.  The cello’s first note is longer, approaching the original pattern.  The piano has upward-leaping bass octaves and syncopated downward-leaping chords.  For three measures, the harmony remains centered on A-flat, alternating with a “diminished seventh” harmony based on G.  In the fourth measure, the violin and cello figures come closer together in two-beat units, obscuring the meter.  The piano’s harmony moves to a lingering “dominant” chord on F, but the B-flat that this would seem to anticipate is instead diverted to A minor.  The piano’s chords now also obscure the meter.
5:28 [m. 207]--In the last two measures of the phrase, the violin and cello come together in high octaves, having arrived in their last exchanges on the original pitches of Theme 1.  They emerge grandly on its descending “dominant” arpeggio and upward octave leap.  The piano’s chords, played on the first two beats of these two measures, have not quite arrived on C major, and they move from the previous A minor through D minor and finally the “dominant” on G before the actual moment of reprise.
RECAPITULATION
5:31 [m. 209]--Theme 1.  Both strings are an octave higher than at the beginning, and they both start emphatically with a multi-stop chord in a grand arrival on the opening gesture in the home key.  This time, the strings in octaves are punctuated by colorful, initially chromatic piano chords on the second and third beats of each measure.  The long-short rhythm and the descent in thirds over the “dominant” chord are given as expected, but then the octave leap is expanded to a three-note upbeat arpeggio after a longer initial note.  The violin holds the top note, but the cello immediately restates the arpeggio, moving its middle note down a third.  The material from 0:12 [m. 9] is not heard.
5:37 [m. 213]--The material from 0:20 [m. 13], not heard since the opening, is now given.  The roles are reversed, with the violin leading on the upward-rising third, held note, and downward-leaping fifth, with the cello following.  The gestures are also a sixth higher than they were before.  The piano responds as before with a C-major arpeggio including a long-short rhythm and some harmony, maintaining the octave doubling between the hands except for the first two notes.  The strings play a step higher, but the responding piano arpeggio is over a leading tone “diminished” chord rather than D minor.  The third sequence, again with the piano in triplet rhythm, has the arpeggio back on C major instead of E minor.
5:47 [m. 219]--Transition.  All the second part of Theme 1, from 0:32 [m. 21], used so extensively in the development section, is removed here.  The previous patterns now emerge into isolated Theme 1 gestures like those just heard in the re-transition.  They are played by the strings in octaves against harmonized arpeggios in triplets, now in contrary motion, from the piano.  These arpeggios hold fast to harmony on F minor.  After two measures, the long-short rhythm in the strings completely takes over for the next measure, with a buildup in intensity as the piano arpeggios press forward into an arrival chord.
5:53 [m. 223]--The strings emerge into the descending arpeggios and upward octave leaps of Theme 1, shifting quickly from F minor to E-flat major.  The piano breaks into syncopated chords in the right hand against leaping notes, mostly octaves, on the beats in the left hand.  The hands move in opposite directions, inward and then outward.  After one gesture in E-flat, there is quick motion back to harmonies on C and (again) F minor before a high F in the violin is isolated.
5:59 [m. 227]--From this point, the violin emerges into its downward-arching line heard in the third measure after 1:10 [m. 47], and what follows closely matches the exposition, now transposed up so that Theme 2 can occur in C major.  The violin line suggests C minor, and the piano’s chord sequences after the downbeat follow the previous patterns.  The cello takes the downward-arching line, now two octaves lower than the violin, but the violin’s continuation moves down an octave.  The piano plays one chord on the “dominant” G, and the violin line changes to major.  It is passed to the cello for the trailing extension.
6:12 [m. 235]--Theme 2 in C major.  The presentation is closely analogous to 1:26 [m. 57], with the piano’s warm, chromatic dolce theme against a held cello C with triplet arpeggios in the left hand.  The cello dips down, as expected, and the strings hold a pianissimo F three octaves apart over the expanding, more chromatic piano line, which diverts the harmony to B-flat minor and major.  After a chord held over a bar line, the piano moves back to “dominant” harmony, and the left hand rises in “straight” rhythm.
6:25 [m. 243]--Analogous to 1:40 [m. 65].  The piano drops out, and the strings take over the Theme 2 presentation after a brief suggestion of C minor.  The piano enters with the rising arpeggio staggered between the hands on and off the beat.  The held note at the end is G instead of F, and the piano takes over the thematic expansion a step higher, landing back on C major for the cello’s rising arpeggio.
6:40 [m. 251]--Analogous to 1:55 [m. 73].  The strings repeat the “expansion” as before, and the piano’s broken-octave triplets are on E.  The undulation that follows is on A-major harmony, and the ensuing string motion is to D minor, as is the piano’s next bass arpeggio and harmonic undulation.  The piano bass drops to F before the rising gesture in the right hand and the full measure pause on held D-minor harmony.
6:55 [m. 258]--Theme 2, Part 2, analogous to 2:08 [m. 80].  Strings emerge into a dolce series of descending gestures in octaves with opening triplet figures and two downward shifts of the pattern over quiet and detached arching piano octaves/harmonies.  The “diminished seventh” harmony at the end of the fourth measure points toward D minor.  The strings are lower than in the exposition, the piano higher.
7:02 [m. 262]--Analogous to 2:15 [m. 84].  Reversal of instruments with piano taking descending gestures in right-hand octaves and strings with the piano’s left hand on upward-arching octaves.  The piano’s hands are shifted inward from the exposition, the right hand lower and the left hand higher.  The strings are now higher than in the exposition.  The extension in two-beat units follows with the upward motion and crescendo, leading to another “diminished seventh” that points toward D minor.
7:11 [m. 268]--Analogous to 2:25 [m. 90].  Sequence of long-short figures with “short” note split into 32nd notes, beginning in D minor.  One change from the earlier presentation in the exposition is that the strings are present on the first beat of the bar, with the violin doubling the piano’s initial gesture.  Their figures beginning on the second beat are as before.  The strings drop out after two measures.  The right hand of the piano shifts from a fourth higher than the exposition to a fifth lower.  As expected, the piano pauses twice on two different “augmented” chords.
7:18 [m. 272]--Analogous to 2:32 [m. 94].  Patterns begin in D minor, with piano and strings moving outward.  The piano is lower than the exposition, the strings higher.  The long-short figure is passed to the strings after two measures.  The “augmented” chord now points toward F minor.  The strings straighten a descent to triplet rhythm before the next gesture.  Everything quiets down and lengthens, as before, with syncopated harmonies and octaves establishing two-beat units.  At this point, the piano has also moved higher than in the exposition, matching the strings.  A “dominant” arpeggio in piano octaves leads back toward C major.
7:32 [m. 280]--Closing material, analogous to 2:46 [m. 102].  Gentle grazioso figures in the piano right hand, leaping up and down in long-short rhythm against triplet arpeggios in the left hand, organized in two-beat patterns to create a hemiola.  The piano is higher than before, the plucked cello chords lower.  The violin enters with smooth leaping motion as before.  The harmony moves toward A-flat by the fifth measure, with emphasis on D-flat.  The violin continues to play the leaping motion where the cello had previously taken over, as the cello would have to reach very high to avoid an awkward register shift, but the cello does take over more naturally after the first one-beat break, and it is lower than in the exposition.
7:47 [m. 289]-- Analogous to 3:01 [m. 111]--The hemiola breaks with strong motion back to C major.  The piano’s long-short figures arrive on C as expected, but on the downbeat, without the earlier suspension.  The cello’s repetition now does include the long-short rhythm.  As before, its arrival is suspended with a full rest on the downbeat.  The three octaves, with the third leading into the transition, are now played by the strings instead of the piano.
8:00 [m. 295]--Transition to coda, partially analogous to the transition to the development at 3:13 [m. 117].  The undulating triplets in the piano that were heard before now incorporate the smooth rising chromatic motion.  The strings have a new element, a syncopated C repeated over the first two measures that then moves to an upper-lower neighbor figure incorporating a “Phrygian” D-flat.  This replaces the static octave G previously heard in the piano triplets.  The piano’s triplets here also include the sustained notes held over bar lines (now broken octaves on A-flat).  The upper-lower neighbor figure in the strings is heard again in the fourth measure.
8:07 [m. 299]--The harmonic motion here deviates from 3:20 [m. 121], with an upward shift in the piano’s undulating triplets that leads to B-flat.  The smooth chromatic motion is still in the piano, with triplets continuing in the right hand, but now against block chords in the left.  After two measures, the left hand has leaping octaves moving from B-flat to F.  The strings become more active.  After a third statement of the upper-lower neighbor figure, the note F is held, and then the neighbor figure is developed into a fuller arpeggio suggesting B-flat minor, which is also supported by the piano harmony.
8:14 [m. 303]--While analogous to 3:27 [m. 125], the deviation is more pronounced.  As the buildup begins, the piano bass shifts from F to F-sharp, and the right-hand triplets reflect this.  The strings, re-spelling B-flat as A-sharp, continue their arpeggios and neighbor-note figures.  After two measures, the piano bass shifts up another half-step to the “dominant” G.  The right-hand triplets and the strings suggest C minor, not major.  In a two-bar stringendo extension, the strings and piano right hand both shoot upward, the former in triplets and the latter in clashing “straight” rhythm, with slurs leading into octaves on the beats.  Continuous broken octave G’s in the bass, undermining the bar line, are a third rhythmic element.
CODA - Animato
8:23 [m. 309]--The previous buildup leads directly into wildly leaping triplet arpeggios in both hands of the piano.  These arpeggios resemble the right hand at 4:30 [m. 165], but their presence in both hands makes them more breathtaking.  They also outline an unstable “diminished seventh” harmony, a chord marked by the strings on the downbeat.  Despite the increased activity and tension, the volume diminishes rapidly.  The leaping arpeggios in the piano continue for four measures, with the hands moving gradually inward.
8:28 [m. 313]--The harmony in the piano’s continuing triplets shifts from the “diminished seventh” to C minor, where the violin begins a broad forte statement of Theme 1 similar to the cello’s D-flat statement at 4:30 [m. 165].  The piano triplets remain quiet and thin to a single line, and the cello imitates the violin, suggesting F minor.  The harmony then brightens as the violin holds another long note and the cello continues with the Theme 1 pattern.  Flat-side keys such as G-flat and D-flat are suggested, but as the cello slides up, the violin moves magically to a descending arpeggio and an arrival on A-flat major marked with an ornamental turn figure.
8:38 [m. 323]--The previous pattern begins again, and the piano triplets are again briefly in both hands for two bars before thinning out.  The violin statement shifts quickly from A-flat to A, where the cello imitation begins.  The progression of the harmony now emphasizes sharp-side keys.  The arrival point seems to be F-sharp major.  The descending arpeggio in the violin is now an arching motion, but the ornamental turn figure is preserved.  The arrival on F-sharp is avoided, however, as the activity slows and quiets down.
8:49 [m. 333]--The arrival on F-sharp is thwarted by the continuation of the violin line downward as the volume and tempo continue to diminish and slow.  The original descending arpeggio from the A-flat arrival is combined with the “leading tone” motion of the apparent F-sharp arrival as the harmony shifts to another apparent goal, this time on A, still with the ornamental turn figure.  The slow rising line in the cello and the piano triplets (now with the left hand consistently on the second beat) confirm this motion, but the arrival is once again diverted.
8:56 [m. 337]--The original tempo suddenly returns.  The piano combines a low bass octave F with mid-range triplet arpeggios in F major, an abrupt harmonic shift.  The cello, in longer notes, trailed by the violin in shorter notes, plays the leaping gesture from the opening of Theme 1, also in F.  All instruments land with a sudden sforzando accent on an unstable “diminished seventh”, with the piano triplets reaching high, tumbling with alternating high and low notes, and the left hand playing a triplet arpeggio.  The pattern is repeated, but the landing string notes are shifted up a half-step and the piano outlines a “diminished” triad.
9:01 [m. 341]--Three more string gestures based on the opening of Theme 1, with the violin still trailing the cello in shorter notes, are compressed into two bars in a cross-meter, with the volume building, the top and then bottom notes shifting up by half-step, and the harmony moving back to A.  The piano’s right-hand figuration is more widely spaced, and the left hand now has broken octaves in “straight” rhythm. 
9:04 [m. 343]--The strings come together in dramatic octaves, forte and animato, on the “dominant” arpeggio from Theme 1 on its original notes, emerging naturally from the opening gesture, which had reached its original level.  The piano’s jagged triplets tumble down, deftly moving through D minor toward C major, and the left hand has striding bass octaves leading from D to F, the latter held over a bar line.  A connecting E in the violin and piano bass leads to a repetition of the arpeggio with the violin an octave lower.  The piano bass again has striding octaves.  The cello, however, breaks from the violin and plays a repeated G held over bar lines, and the right-hand triplets now remain on the “dominant” in C major.
9:09 [m. 347]--With a half-step lead-in and back in a high register, the strings are again in octaves on the descending arpeggio, but now it outlines a C-major chord, and the piano bass strides from E to G, now with a half-step lead-in from D-sharp.  Again, the violin drops an octave for a second statement, the piano triplets move lower, and the cello breaks to repeat a note over bar lines, now a C.
9:13 [m. 351]--The pattern of the last eight bars is given with reversed instrumentation.  The strings now have the striding octaves that were in the piano bass, and the piano bass, also in octaves, has the arpeggio from the theme.  The strings add the half-step lead-in to the D-F motion (from C-sharp) as well as to the E-G motion from D-sharp.  The repetition of each is an octave higher.  The triplets in the piano’s right hand still have the jagged tumbling motion under each gesture, but under the repetitions with the higher strings, their notes and implied harmonies are more chromatic, even adding double notes with the last repetition.  In the last measure, the strings leave their held G and shoot up excitedly in half-steps from E to A.
9:24 [m. 359]--The strings, still in octaves, now have dramatic octave leaps, first on A and then on F.  The piano triplets finally break, pausing on two chords, first an unstable “augmented” triad and then a D-minor chord.  The note D in the strings leads to emphatic C-major cadence chords that alternate between the piano and the strings, with both instruments in triple stops.  These chords, in groups of two, create a brief cross-meter going against the 3/4 meter.
9:28 [m. 363]--All three instruments come together in unison, including both hands of the piano, with the opening gesture from Theme 1.  This unison arrival is extremely satisfying.  After the descending “dominant” arpeggio, there are two more cadences with full chords and string triple stops, the piano incorporating an arpeggio between them.  The first of these final cadences has the top notes of the violin moving from D to E, and the second is more firmly conclusive, with the high violin notes moving from B to C, a higher piano right hand, and the cello incorporating its low C.
9:42--END OF MOVEMENT [367 mm.]

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2^nd Movement: Andante con moto (Theme and Variations). A MINOR, 2/4 and 6/8 time with one 9/8 measure.
0:00 [m. 1]--THEME.  Part 1.  All four movements start with the strings in octaves, and here, they remain in octaves for all but one measure of the variation theme’s presentation.  The theme is in sections of eight and nineteen measures, the second part consisting of a twelve-bar main portion and a seven-bar “codetta.”  The theme is immediately characterized by the forceful, austere A-minor string melody with distinctive short-long “snap” figures.  The piano has continuous off-beat chords, colorful but also austere, following the strings, who play on the beats.  The two four-bar units of Part 1 are identical except for an adjustment in the piano harmony and its internal motion at the end to lead into Part 2, which starts in D minor.
0:23 [m. 9]--Part 2.  The first four measures are in D minor (the “subdominant”), with the same basic patterns in the string melody and piano chords, except for a more general upward motion in the string gestures.  After this, the strings strive upward in more continuous motion heading back toward A minor, with the seventh and eighth bars closely matching the end of Part 1.  Immediately after the arrival point, the strings strive upward again, now stretching their lines over four bars with harmonies on D minor, motion through E minor, and then “diminished” harmonies pointing back to A minor.  The piano adds more internal motion.  The main portion of Part 2 anticipates a cadence, the strings reaching a forceful high F.
0:56 [m. 21]--Codetta.  It begins with the cadence in the strings, who continue with an upward winding figure.  The piano again has internal motion between its main chords.  A repetition reaches higher at the end.  There is now a more emphatic cadence in the third and fourth measures.  In the only deviation from the string octaves, the violin briefly drops out for the cello to extend the cadence in the fourth bar, beginning an inversion of the last three bars.  The volume diminishes for the first time.  The violin doubles the cello in a repetition of this extension.  In the last two bars, now piano, the cadence changes to A major at the last moment as the strings reach up to E.  The last cadence bar creates the odd seven-measure unit.
1:15 [m. 28]--VARIATION 1.  Part 1.  The volume is now quiet and expressive.  The piano begins with rising high chords that slow down the short-long figure, and the strings, still in octaves, respond with low rising upbeats.  The piano alone takes the third and fourth measures.  The right hand expands the thematic material with an arching melody harmonized in thirds.  The left plays broadly rising arpeggios in clashing six-note “triplet” groups ending with a rest.  The melody adds new chromatic notes and works its way down with mild syncopation in the fourth bar.  In the second four-bar unit, the harmonic goal of the piano’s last two bars is changed as expected but with new chromatic notes and a “circle of fifth” progression.
1:39 [m. 36]--Part 2.  The first four measures in D minor closely follow the pattern of Part 1, the piano taking the third and fourth measures with the arching melody and broad arpeggios.  In the fifth and sixth bars, the strings take the short-long figures as well as the rising upbeats while the piano continues with syncopated arches, moving the six-note arpeggio to the middle of the measure and heading back to A minor.  The seventh and eighth bars are like an intensified version of the last two from Part 1.
2:02 [m. 44]--Part 2 continued.  In the last four bars, the strings separate, alternating on the rising figures while the piano has gently sighing harmonies against triplet-rhythm arpeggios that are less continuous.  In the last two measures, the cello has long-short figures against the violin’s steadily rising lines.  Beginning from a quiet level, the buildup and crescendo are stronger than in the original theme.  The harmonies largely follow the expected patterns, but D major is added while E minor and the “diminished” harmonies are omitted in favor of the more straightforward E major as “dominant” pointing back to A minor.
2:14 [m. 48]--Codetta.  With the arrival of the forte cadence, the codetta adheres more closely to the original theme.  The violin in fact has the original figures while the cello joins forceful, faster off-beat chromatic chords from the piano.  These are an octave lower in the second measure.  The violin embellishes the next cadence as the piano chords continue without the cello and the volume diminishes.  The cello then has its original inversion, and the violin joins as expected.  The repetition with violin introduces a chromatic inflection to the note D-sharp.  The change to A major is earlier and more complete, including a major “subdominant” harmony on D, and the strings expand their motion, adding broad long-short figures.
2:35 [m. 55]--VARIATION 2.  Part 1.  The piano alone takes the first four measures in a dolce adaptation, with the “straight” melody played above flowing left-hand arpeggios in triplet rhythm.  The short-long figure is retained, both on the downbeat and in its original position on the second beat.  The arpeggios include both upward and undulating motion.  At the end, the short-long rhythm creates a syncopation in an inner voice.  In the second four-bar unit, the violin enters to take over the first three downbeat figures, with the piano continuing as it had on the second beat.  The arpeggios are adjusted under the violin entries.  The piano again plays alone in the last bar, making the expected adjustment for Part 2 to begin in D minor.
3:00 [m. 63]--Part 2.  For the first four measures in D minor, the melody alternates between the high-range cello on the downbeat and the violin on the second beat.  The piano’s arpeggios are now split between the hands and mostly rising, with the right hand adding syncopated descending octaves against the first two violin entries.  The cello plays undulating syncopation in the fourth bar.  In the next four measures that move back to A minor, the piano has arpeggios in both hands.  The strings join in octaves with syncopation, then split the melody with the piano (whose right hand briefly abandons the arpeggios and triplets) over a buildup.  The eighth bar again leaves the cello without the violin to play its undulating syncopation.
3:24 [m. 71]--Part 2 continued.  The violin and cello now alternate in full measures rather than half-measures.  The piano’s right hand again briefly leaves its arpeggios twice to join the violin.  The harmonies move through D minor and E minor, as in the original theme, but the approach back to A minor is again different, introducing the note B-flat in the piano arpeggios.
3:36 [m. 75]--Codetta.  As in Variation 1, the first three measures are led by the violin, the last four by the cello, but now each without support from the other.  The lines are now in the syncopated patterns that characterize this variation.  The piano arpeggios, still in triplets, are split between the hands, outlining chromatic chords.  The violin line begins in major, but shifts to minor before the cello’s inversion, which diminishes in volume.  The right-hand arpeggios change to straight rhythm against the left-hand triplets.  At the end, after a new and colorful harmonic progression, the left-hand triplets stop, the piano plays off the beat, and the cello’s cadence is in minor, inflected to major by the piano at the very end.
3:59 [m. 82]--VARIATION 3.  Part 1.  In forceful triple-stops, both strings begin the variation with the initial gesture including the short-long “snap.”  After the first measure, the violin plunges down, and the cello follows it, beginning with two quick 32nd notes.  The piano enters strongly in the third measure, also with the thematic short-long gesture in big chords.  Meanwhile, the strings have three detached arpeggios in contrary motion, the violin moving up as the cello moves down.  All instruments reach the “dominant” harmony in the fourth bar, the piano playing another “snap” gesture.  The next four bars are the same except for the last measure, which ends on A-major harmony to lead into D minor as in other variations.
4:18 [m. 90]--Part 2.  The piano plays the first two measures in D minor, which are like the string opening of Part 1.  Right-hand octaves plunge in the second bar, beginning with the 32nd notes.  The strings in octaves play the thematic gesture in the third and fourth measures as both hands of the piano play three descending arpeggios in octaves after initial chords and bass notes.  The next four measures move back toward A minor as expected.  Here the strings start alone, the cello leading with the thematic gesture and violin chords following off the beat.  Now the cello leads the violin on the downward plunge.  The last two bars with piano resemble Part 1, but the string direction is reversed on the first two of now four arpeggios.
4:36 [m. 98]--Part 2 continued.  The strings have a measure alone in double-stops, with the violin rising toward D minor on the “snap” gesture.  The piano takes over in the next bar, rising more quickly to D minor, but then quickly descending to lead into the next exchange.  The pattern of these two measures is similar, but with rising motion to E minor instead of D minor.  Now the piano ends its measure continuing the upward motion, changing E minor to “dominant” harmony to lead back to A minor for the codetta.
4:45 [m. 102]--Codetta.  As usual, the violin leads in the first three measures, here using the plunging gesture with 32nd notes, now adding winding motion.  The piano supports it with full chords coming after the downbeats.  The cello reverses this motion in the fourth bar, turning the plunging gestures upward.  The violin joins it an octave higher in the next bar, the piano continuing with its chords after the downbeats.  Leading toward the final arrival in A major, the violin takes over the rising lines as the cello leaps down.  The piano punctuates this arrival with chords moving inward to an octave A in both hands.
5:04 [m. 109]--VARIATION 4.  A major.  Part 1.  The time signature changes to 6/8 and the key to a warm major.  The cello leads the first four measures without the violin.  It soars up dolce in long notes before a siciliana-like figure in long-short rhythm at the end.  The piano plays a series of mildly chromatic chords, dolcissimo sempre, with some doubling of the hands in the first two bars, surging gently, holding every other chord over a strong beat.  The violin takes the next four bars without the cello, adding swaying, broader long-short motion before the faster figure at the end, which dips down.  The piano chords are given again, with the right hand an octave lower and narrower.  The harmony is adjusted at the end as usual.
5:30 [m. 117]--Part 2.  As in the minor variations, the first four bars move to D, now D major.  The piano’s pattern of syncopated chords continues, with the left hand remaining anchored to an octave D for two bars.  After a lead-in from the cello, it alternates descending dolce two-note figures with the violin.  The cello’s figures are stepwise descents, while the violin’s first two are leaps of a fourth before it also moves to steps.  In the fifth and sixth bars, the piano’s chords are more active, removing the syncopation, but the violin and cello now play syncopated notes in octaves.  The violin drops out, and the seventh and eighth bars closely resemble the end of the cello statement in Part 1.  The cello adds an octave dip to the siciliana figure.
5:58 [m. 125]--Part 2 continued.  The violin and cello play in alternation, the violin in the broad long-short rhythm and the cello with more continuous notes.  The piano’s syncopated pattern continues with some doubling between the hands.  The harmonies are still colorful and chromatic, including both “diminished” and “augmented” chords (the latter having already been heard from the outset of the variation).  The chromaticism becomes particularly extreme moving into the codetta.
6:11 [m. 129]--Codetta.  The strings play in expanded thirds (mostly tenths), using the broad long-short rhythm associated with the violin in this variation.  The piano’s chords continue, resembling the patterns established in Part 1.  In the third bar, the strings introduce a mild hemiola with two-note groups disrupting the 6/8 flow, and both leap down an octave, the violin first.  The usual inversion follows, but the cello adds octave leaps while maintaining the third-based harmony.  The inversion is disrupted in the sixth measure as the instruments slow and quiet down.  The syncopated rhythm moves to the strings as the piano briefly replaces held chords with two-chord groups.  High piano chords follow the strings in the cadence measure.
6:39 [m. 136]--VARIATION 5.  Part 1.  The key returns to minor, but the 6/8 meter is retained.  The piano is directed to depress the soft pedal.  It begins a flowing pattern with slower motion in the left hand, each three-note group consisting of a wide upward leap followed by a narrower descent.  The right hand has faster descending arpeggios in three-note groups, two played against one left-hand group.  The cello sings forth what is basically a 6/8 version of the original theme, straightening its short-long figures and adding ornaments in the second and fourth bars.  The violin repeats this an octave higher, adding two ornaments and delaying the last one.  The piano’s left-hand pattern is mildly disrupted with the harmonic adjustment.
7:05 [m. 144]--Part 2.  The pattern continues for the first four measures in D minor.  The cello presents the melody, adding the decorative ornaments in the second measure.  The melody itself still closely resembles the original theme, and that continues especially with the continuous upward-striving motion heard in the theme leading into the fifth measure with a buildup, now adapted to the 6/8 meter.  The violin joins the cello an octave above during the fifth measure, then continues to double it in the seventh and eighth bars that resemble the end of Part 1.  The piano patterns continue with the faster right hand against the slower left.  The three-note groups in the right hand somewhat disrupt the 6/8 flow, with four groups in each bar.
7:30 [m. 152]--Part 2 continued.  The cello continues the patterns from the theme adapted to 6/8, returning to the upward-striving motion.  The volume is forte, and the cello is in its high register, creating a climactic moment.  The violin enters, now not with octave doubling, but with a brief harmonization.  The expected motions through D minor and E minor happen as in the theme.  The violin enters with a second brief harmonization, then takes over the melodic argument to lead into the coda as the volume diminishes and the tempo slows.  The “diminished” harmony leads into the codetta portion, as in the original theme.  Through all of this, the piano continues its hypnotic arpeggio patterns established in both hands.
7:44 [m. 156]--Coda (più tranquillo poco a poco).  The codetta is expanded to a coda for the movement.  Originally, the expected pattern is retained, but notably, the inversion begins in the fifth bar instead of the fourth.  The violin takes the lead, and it departs more from the thematic model than the variation has done to this point, adding an upward chromatic scale in half-steps leading to an arrival on the “dominant” E.  The piano’s continuous patterns briefly break, then resume, then harmonize the violin scale in broken octaves, then resume again.  The violin adds a turn at the end of the fourth measure.  The cello takes over with its expected inversion, including a downward chromatic scale, and the piano patterns are also inverted.
8:08 [m. 163]--The seven-bar character of the codetta is retained as the cello’s expected cadence in the eighth measure is diverted toward D major, the “subdominant” area.  The cello plays a gentle turning figure with a decorative ornament against the (now ascending) right-hand arpeggios in the piano.  The left hand has moved here to slower octaves.  This turn figure leads to harmony on A major, and the violin inverts it, seeming to lead to a more decisive A-major arrival, but the piano makes a diversion toward D again, now D minor, its arpeggios more continuous and ascending over left-hand octaves.  The cello builds with a faster figure including a triplet, which the violin (with the piano) inverts, receding to an A-minor cadence.
8:22 [m. 167]--On the upbeat, the cello plays the triplet, then exchanges it with the violin inversion, which it harmonizes.  This happens twice as the volume diminishes and the tempo continues to slow.  The piano’s arpeggios move steadily lower, the left hand continuing with bass octaves that flow in long-short motion.  After the violin’s second inverted figure, the next statement of the original figure is stretched out and played by both instruments in harmony (sixths).  This expansion creates a single 9/8 measure.  The string instruments reach a held harmony in the next (6/8) measure, and the piano punctuates it with two short pianissimo A-minor chords, the second one lower.  That chord is repeated and held in the final measure.
8:53--END OF MOVEMENT [170 mm.] 

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3^rd Movement: Scherzo - Presto (Scherzo and Trio).  C MINOR, 6/8 time.
SCHERZO
0:00 [m. 1]--Part 1.  Very quietly, pianissimo sempre, the strings in octaves begin a rhythmic pattern with repeated sixteenth notes on the first half of the measure leading to a brief rest.  They outline the C-minor chord over three measures.  The piano, sempre pianissimo e leggiero, has rising patterns in the same rhythm, doubled between the hands before the landing harmony.  In the next two measures, the strings add a figure in eighth notes at the end of the bar.  In the second half of the phrase, the strings separate, the violin holding an A-flat, then developing the eighth-note figure with cello punctuation.  The skittish piano, its hands no longer doubled, becomes continuous.  An arching violin scale in sixteenth notes ends the phrase.
0:10 [m. 1]--Part 1 repeated.
0:19 [m. 9]--Part 2.  The piano moves to broken octaves in sixteenth notes, the hands alternating while the strings hold a long note in harmony.  The key center has veered down a third, to A-flat, in a mixture of major and minor.  After two measures, the strings, still in harmony, move to more development of the familiar eighth-note figure while the piano moves back to rapid arpeggios and skittish motion.  A second pattern in A-flat seems to begin, but then in the seventh measure the piano’s arpeggios and the string patterns veer toward A major.  Everything is still pianissimo.
0:28 [m. 17]--A powerful crescendo begins.  The piano takes the eighth-note figure for the first time in its right hand against short, fast arpeggios in its left while the strings play rising notes.  These patterns between piano and strings alternate each measure, the piano’s right hand moving between the rising notes and the eighth-note figure in harmony.  The key now veers toward D minor.  After two exchanges, the strings take over the eighth-note figure while the piano’s rising right-hand harmonies and left-hand arpeggios become harmonically active and excited.  The key moves toward the remote C-sharp minor approaching the climax.
0:35 [m. 23]--At the climax, the strings have reached very high, holding a note, then descending, utilizing the familiar eighth-note figure against rapid piano arpeggios.  These shift between parallel and contrary motion.  A second two-bar pattern veers from C-sharp to G-sharp.  This is the same note as A-flat, where Part 2 began.
0:40 [m. 27]--Suddenly quiet, the piano and violin hold a harmony notated as A-flat, after which the cello plays repeated sixteenth notes on C.  The piano’s right hand then cascades down in a “diminished seventh” arpeggio, the harmony supported by the violin.  This pattern with A-flat harmony and arpeggio is given again with a different “diminished seventh,” the violin moving down from A-flat instead of up.  Finally, the violin and piano hold the A-flat harmony a third time, the cello following with its rapidly repeated C.  The violin drops out in the next measure as the piano subtly shifts to C minor and the cello again gives the repeated C.
0:47 [m. 33]--Part 3.  The patterns of Part 1 seem to return, but the violin and cello now play the repeated sixteenth notes in alternation rather than together, eliminating the pause.  The rising piano figures are also passed from the left hand to the right.  The first two measures are unexpectedly repeated and varied with the piano and strings reversing roles.  The strings take the rising figures, the cello leading the violin (eliminating the piano’s chromatic notes), while the piano plays broken octaves in sixteenth notes.  This second pattern is extended by two measures with another shift to harmony on A-flat.
0:53 [m. 39]--The pattern from the third and fourth measures of Part 1 is developed, but without the repeated notes.  The violin takes the lead, the cello following as the piano plays rapid rising arpeggios.  After two measures, the violin works its way up in a third measure, supported by piano and cello (the latter holding notes over strong beats, the former with three-note arpeggios).  This three-measure pattern is given again in a second sequence a third higher, and a small buildup begins.  In the next two bars, the violin slides down by half-step, the cello arches up and down, also using half-step motion, and the piano plays three-note rising arpeggios in both hands, the right hand twice as fast as the left.  The volume diminishes again.
1:02 [m. 47]--The violin breaks into a downward-cascading sequence using the downward-arching third from the familiar eighth-note figure.  The cello punctuates this before harmonizing it at the end of the second measure.  The piano, leggiero, decorates it with rapid leaps up and down.  The volume diminishes even more.  The sequence pauses at the third measure with a “deceptive” cadence and a statement of the eighth-note figure in piano left-hand octaves.  This is given twice in the next two bars.  Finally, an asymmetrical five-bar unit is created by stretching out the cadence in an implied 3/4 measure superimposed on the 6/8, with the three-note eighth-note figure expanded to the full measure, broken by left-hand octaves. 
1:08 [m. 52]--The C-minor cadence is diverted to major, whereupon the violin begins a rapid arching scale motion mixing major and minor, with the cello holding long notes and the piano playing detached arpeggios.  After three measures, the violin turns its trajectory more upward and the piano arpeggio cascades down in broken octaves, the right hand following the left.
1:13 [m. 56]--The pattern of chords from 0:40 [m. 27] returns, with the harmony shifted to C (major).  The cello’s repeated sixteenth notes are on C as before.  In the sixth measure, the previous harmonic shift is replaced by a plunging C-major piano arpeggio, but the cello does play the repeated-note C.  This leads directly into the Trio section.
TRIO (C major) - Poco meno presto
1:20 [m. 62]--Part 1.  The violin leads a broad, very heartfelt melody, with the 6/8 meter now a more leisurely swing than a skittish patter.  The volume is louder than the end of the scherzo and steadily builds.  The piano accompanies the swinging violin with rising arpeggios.  The cello enters with a line of counterpoint in the third measure as the violin reaches higher in the fourth bar and some notes of the piano arpeggios obtain harmony.  In the next four measures, the entire violin melody is repeated an octave higher, but the cello counterpoint continues uninterrupted, adding mild syncopation and moving (usually with an arching shape) against the longer violin notes.  The tops of the piano arpeggios reach higher.
1:33 [m. 70]--The piano harmonies and the cello counterpoint have moved toward the “dominant” G major, and the volume has reached forte.  The strings now move down in harmony as the piano figures in the right hand take on a more zigzagging shape.  After two bars of the descent, the violin reaches up and sighs down in two sequential figures with mildly syncopated cello counterpoint.  The piano also has some syncopation and implied 3/4 motion in the right hand.  The violin then appears to descend toward a cadence in G major, but this is converted back to the “dominant” in C major as the cello drops out and the piano thins out.  Reaching down in longer notes and receding in volume, the violin leads back to the repetition of its melody.
1:46 [m. 62]--Part 1 repeated.  First statement of violin melody and repetition an octave higher, as at 1:20.
1:59 [m. 70]--Descent and sighing gestures in G, then diversion back to C major, as at 1:33.
2:12 [m. 78]--Part 2.  The cello immediately transposes the last violin figure in longer notes to E-flat major, and the piano also makes the shift, doubling the cello in the left hand.  After this, the violin enters with the first two bars of its melody in E-flat, with accompanying arpeggios from the cello and piano right hand.  The key is then shifted up again, not to G but to G-flat major, led by the piano left hand with the cello a third above in harmony, the right-hand figures following suit.  The cello descends as the volume builds, and the violin enters to play its first two measures in G-flat.  In the second bar, the piano obtains thicker harmonies, and the cello arpeggio pushes through, the volume building toward forte.
2:25 [m. 86]-- The piano is isolated in powerful chords and makes yet another harmonic shift, this one smoother, to D-flat major, using the same figure from the previous shifts.  The strings enter together in harmony and mild syncopation, the violin echoing the piano notes.  The strings then shift back to G-flat, but this is notated as F-sharp in the piano harmonies.  The syncopated string entry is the signal for the piano’s right-hand chords to become highly syncopated. 
2:32 [m. 90]--The strings, in octaves, reach up two octaves on F-sharp, maintaining the syncopation with the piano chords.  F-sharp becomes a “dominant” leading to B minor.  This then makes a “relative” motion to D, with the strings now making their two-octave reach on that note, but the D harmony is another “dominant” leading to G major.  Then G itself becomes a “dominant” leading back home to C as the strings break into harmony and away from their syncopation, plunging down against the “dominant” chords.
2:38 [m. 94]--The opening melody grandly returns in high string octaves.  The piano plays two-note descents with harmonies that strongly suggest a cross-meter, or implied 3/4 superimposed on the prevailing 6/8.  This persists throughout this climax.  These piano figures leap continuously up and down until the fourth measure, where they descend.  At that point, the strings separate.  They do not repeat the first four bars as in Part 1 but move to the descent and sighing gestures.  Instead of descending from the last note (D), the violin leaps up a fourth to G to begin the descent, which keeps the key in C major instead of moving toward the “dominant” on G.  The pattern continues largely as it did in Part 1 up to the longer violin notes.
2:57 [m. 106]--The volume rapidly recedes, and the cello enters against the last violin note.  Following the pattern of Part 1, this last violin motion would lead to F, and indeed F minor (not major) is now briefly implied as the cello holds a note over the bar line before reiterating the longer violin notes.  These notes, however, are placed at the level that would lead to G, despite the F-minor harmony.  Now the violin holds a note over a bar line before playing its longer notes again, this time on their original level from Part 1, which had led home to C.  The piano figures continue under this, with long-held octaves in the left hand, before holding a chord on G against the last violin notes.  The strings also hold their last G, setting up the reprise.
SCHERZO REPRISE
3:07 [m. 110]--Part 1.  The whole scherzo reprise is written out, despite being almost entirely literal.  The only variance is at the end, where a new coda is added, but Brahms also unusually directs that the repeat of the (very short) Part 1 be observed again.  First statement of Part 1, as at the beginning.
3:16 [m. 110]--Part 1 repeated, as at 0:10.
3:25 [m. 118]--Part 2.  Patterns moving to A-flat and A, as at 0:19 [m. 9].
3:34 [m. 126]--Approach to climax with motion to D minor and C-sharp minor, as at 0:28 [m. 17].
3:41 [m. 132]--Climax moving to G-sharp/A-flat, as at 0:35 [m. 23].
3:47 [m. 136]--Held harmonies with repeated C in cello leading back to C minor, as at 0:40 [m. 27].
3:53 [m. 142]--Part 3.  Return of patterns from Part 1, as at 0:47 [m. 33].
4:00 [m. 148]--Development of patterns from third and fourth measures of Part 1, as at 0:53 [m. 39].
4:09 [m. 156]--Five-bar unit based on eighth-note figure, as at 1:02 [m. 47].
4:15 [m. 161]--Rapid arching scale motion in violin, then plunging piano, as at 1:08 [m. 52].
4:20 [m. 165]--The concluding chords from 1:13 [m. 56] are played, their patterns maintained for the first four measures.  The fifth measure is also the same, but the repeated cello C is slowed down to eighth notes.
4:26 [m. 170]--The transitional measure with the C-major arpeggio is replaced by a six-bar codetta.  Brahms indicates a rare triple piano here.  The piano plays a rising arpeggio on D-flat major against held strings.  This moves directly to a held C-minor chord.  The cello plucks a low C halfway through this bar.  The next harmony with rising piano arpeggio is a “half-diminished seventh” based on G, substituting for a regular “dominant.”  This leads to another held chord, not C minor, but C major.  The cello plucks its low C again.  The chord is held into the fifth bar, and halfway through it, the piano plays a short, partly rolled C-major chord against a third plucked cello C.  The last bar is a plucked C-major chord in the cello with a plucked C in the violin and a low octave C in the piano.  The coda has a violin descent of F-E-flat-D-flat-C.
4:40--END OF MOVEMENT [175 mm.]

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4^th Movement: Finale – Allegro giocoso (Sonata-Rondo form). C MAJOR, 4/4 time.
EXPOSITION
0:00 [m. 1]--Theme 1 (Rondo Theme).  The strings start in mezza voce octaves, playing a rising melody that begins with C but then emphasizes the dissonant note F-sharp.  The piano plays thumping chords, four short ones leading to a longer dissonant one, the top voice moving down, molto piano e mezza voce.  In the second bar, the strings reach down and again emphasize F-sharp.  The piano has the same pattern, but now its bass notes move down.  The strings continue in octaves, winding down more rapidly, with two repeated six-beat units over three bars, the second beginning halfway through the fourth bar.  The piano’s chords are now continuous, with downward motion against each six-beat unit, its bass moving from C at the end.
0:09 [m. 6]--The strings play a rising arpeggio on a “diminished seventh” chord above an octave G in the piano.  The very soft volume lends this arpeggio a very mysterious quality.  The piano immediately repeats the arpeggio in faster notes and continues it upward, now against an octave G in the strings.  This whole pattern is given again, but now the strings follow the faster piano arpeggio, changing it to G major.  The volume builds very strongly here, and in a one-bar extension, the G-major harmony is confirmed in all three instruments, the piano with another faster arpeggio and the strings with broad long-short rhythm.  The measure ends with a forcefully emphasized chord on the last half-beat.
0:17 [m. 11]-- The strings separate into harmony, and the violin leads a new phrase that inverts the direction of the theme, adding a faster motion in the second bar.  The piano’s left hand has the original theme in bass octaves, with chords in the right hand coming after the beat and shadowing the violin line.  The cello harmonies include high upward reaches.  The continuation again suggests two six-beat units over three measures.  The piano’s left-hand octaves and the cello now no longer follow the original theme, but simply punctuate the violin line, along with the right-hand chords after the beat.  The second unit is expanded to ten beats (and a fourth measure) with a high octave leap and a “restart” moving to a full C-major cadence.
0:27 [m. 17]-- Transition.  The piano follows the cadence with an accented chord (the “subdominant” F) on the second beat and reiterates the cadence.  The strings then enter in harmony, and they also seem to move toward a confirmation of the cadence, but they stretch it out and move to a “dominant” harmony (supported by the piano) suggesting E minor.  The piano has another forceful accented chord on a weak beat, now the last of the bar, held over the bar line.  It again reiterates the cadence-type motion, still suggesting a motion toward E minor.  The strings enter to echo and expand this against thick piano chords, and then they finally come together to descend in a scale motion toward the arrival on E minor.
0:37 [m. 23]--Theme 2 (E minor-G minor).  The piano has the first presentation in E minor, playing mostly in quiet octaves, reaching down and back up before moving back down in faster stepwise notes.  The continuation is similar but begins lower and delays the upward reach.  The strings in octaves enter after these first four bars, repeating the pattern as the piano continues its descending scale figures.  These piano figures turn upward, beginning off the beat against bass octaves, in the third bar of the string presentation.  The strings digress from the pattern at the end, reaching higher and separating as they shift toward G minor.  The violin continues, adding a long-short rhythm against a rising cello and moving toward B-flat major.
0:52 [m. 33]--The strings cut off and the piano continues developing the theme, remaining in B-flat major but using many chromatic notes.  It winds downward over a leaping inner voice.  The left hand responds with a rising line against a long-short motion in the right hand, then the right hand leaps an octave to repeat its last descent.  The rising left-hand figure is repeated against another long-short motion, and the right hand has a shorter leap to its next descending line.
0:58 [m. 37]--The strings enter, now doubled two octaves apart, and begin to repeat the piano’s last idea, but quickly extend it with a highly chromatic descending sequence.  The piano has rising broken octaves in both hands, creating harmony with the string line.  After the first two bars are repeated in sequence a third lower, the next sequence is abbreviated to a single bar.  The volume has steadily diminished, reaching pianissimo as the sequence breaks.  The violin leaps down, leading to an apparent cadence in G minor as the piano’s octave patterns are broken with two rests.
1:08 [m. 43]--Closing section (G major).  The piano breaks into delicate leggiero runs in triplet rhythm that are mostly ascending fragments, but also turning ones.  From the second measure, longer quarter notes are on upbeats held over bar lines into the next measure of triplet runs.  The left hand plays long octaves underneath this.  The counterpoint is provided by the cello, which provides a zigzagging staccato line in clashing “straight” rhythm.  This continues for four measures.  Although in G major, the chromatic notes C-sharp and A-sharp are prominent.
1:14 [m. 47]--The violin enters, and the straight staccato zigzag becomes the leading voice, with the violin and cello in contrary motion.  The piano’s triplets are now in both hands, arching in the right and rising in the left, in an accompanying role.  The strings’ zigzag line retains the held quarter notes over bar lines from the previously leading piano triplet line.  After a buildup, the passage is extended by two measures, the cello holding a double stop while the violin continues the zigzag.  The piano has an ascending arpeggio on a “half-diminished seventh” chord that leads to a high rolled A-minor chord as the violin abruptly cuts off.
1:23 [m. 53]--Transition to Development.  On the upbeat, and forte, the strings in octaves abruptly move back to C major.  The cello moves into the opening measure of the main theme and then repeats it an octave higher.  The violin does the same but decorates it with downward-turning triplet motion using chromatic half-steps.  The theme’s F-sharp lends itself as a pivot note as the piano abruptly enters with a dissonant chord, cutting off the strings.  It descends over three measures, outlining the “dominant” chord in E (minor or major).  The left hand uses the rhythm of the main theme while the right uses the triplet decorations the strings had used.  The piano diminishes, breaking off with rests and a reiteration in the fourth measure.
DEVELOPMENT
1:32 [m. 59]--Theme 1 (Rondo Theme).  The return of the theme is treated as in a rondo, coming back in the original key, and staying there for eight measures.  The E minor or major suggested by the previous piano arpeggio is not fulfilled.  The theme is recognizable, but highly varied.  The piano uses the triplet decorations of the previous transition to outline the theme, doubled in octaves between the hands.  The strings take the thumping chords previously played by the piano.  Despite the significant variation in scoring and ornamentation, the first five measures follow the expected pattern of the opening.
1:40 [m. 64]--The strings move to their rising “diminished seventh” arpeggio from 0:09 [m. 6] as the piano murmurs on a half-step in continuing triplet motion.  The piano’s response is a novelty, a widely spaced outward and inward arpeggio (still in triplets) with a high octave reach at the end in both hands.  This arpeggio intentionally resembles a piano technique exercise.  The two-bar pattern is repeated, as expected, but the developmental deviation comes as the strings slide up a half-step against the piano arpeggio.
1:46 [m. 68]--A strong buildup begins.  The string arpeggio is played a half-step higher, the piano’s murmuring now a minor third.  The outward-inward arpeggio follows as the strings slide up another half-step.  The next piano arpeggio begins earlier and is placed across the bar line, with murmuring on either side.  The string arpeggio now moves up a half-step again, continuing upward over the next two measures.  The next piano arpeggio (still a “diminished seventh”) is in a single bar at the climax.  In the next measure, as the strings reach high, the piano leaps back up and plays two inward-only arpeggios, the second with the left hand reduced to a straight leaping octave and fourth.
1:56 [m. 74]--All of the activity and buildup has led to a familiar key center, E.  There, Theme 2 is triumphantly transformed into a major-key version, joyously played by the strings two octaves apart with forceful piano chords.  In the second measure, the piano’s left hand in octaves joins the cello in the expected descending scale line, the violin following quickly in quasi-imitation.  The next two measures are largely new, extending the joyous E-major outburst with reiterations of the thematic motion and the descending lines passed between the strings.  It closes on B-major harmony with piano bass octaves leading down into the next passage.
2:02 [m. 78]--Suddenly quiet, the piano bass octaves have led back to Theme 1 material.  The left and right hand alternate on the thumping eighth-notes.  The violin plays a decorative line in triplets, then repeats it an octave higher, the key having shifted to B major.  The cello then enters with the eighth notes, joined quickly by the violin in a harmonized descent as the piano moves to the now familiar turning triplets in both hands, rising steadily from a very low point.  This motion shifts the key down a half-step to B-flat major.  There, the piano’s right hand has the two decorative triplet lines an octave apart, with the eighth notes passed from cello to piano left hand to violin, back to piano left hand, and finally back to the cello.
2:11 [m. 84]--Another harmonized descent in the strings begins, again against the turning triplets in piano octaves beginning low.  This time, the pattern emerges suddenly into forceful bass notes from piano bass octaves and cello with powerful off-beat chords from the piano’s right hand.  The violin reaches back up and begins another descent.  This moves the key to F major for another statement of Theme 2 material.
2:16 [m. 87]--The Theme 2 fragment from 1:56 [m. 74] is now given in F major, with an added measure of the main downward-arching figure before the descending lines.  As before, it ends on the “dominant” (C major) with descending bass octaves. 
2:24 [m. 92]--This is somewhat analogous to 2:02 [m. 78].  The left and right hands of the piano again alternate on the eighth notes as the violin plays the decorative line in triplets twice an octave apart.  This is now in C major, the home key, in anticipation of the coming re-transition.  The cello and violin play the harmonized descent as before, once again with the turning triplets in piano octaves starting low.  They cut off as they did before, but now the cello takes over the turning triplets, passing them quickly to the violin as the piano moves to chords with the left hand on the beat followed by the right hand off the beat.  All this leads toward the “dominant” G for the extremely long and homogenous re-transition.
2:31 [m. 97]--Re-transition.  It is very long and entirely built on the thumping eighth notes from the main theme, with the piano bass anchored to the “dominant” note G.  Suddenly pianissimo, the strings (with the downward-moving cello the leading voice) and piano alternate on the thumping notes once in each measure, the harmonies gradually moving down from E minor through D minor and C major before finally arriving at G major in the sixth measure.  The right hand of the piano alternates between low and high chords.  These alternating patterns continue through six measures.
2:40 [m. 103]--For one measure, the pattern is reversed as the piano continues through the beginning of the bar and the strings follow, but then they also quickly continue through the beginning of the next measure, restoring the original alternating pattern.  After these first two measures, the pattern continues for another six, with the same basic harmonic cycle, the major difference being that the violin is now the leading string voice, and it alternates between downward and upward motion.  The piano’s right hand still alternates between low and high chords.
2:53 [m. 111]--Once again, the piano continues through the beginning of a measure and the strings follow, also continuing through into the next bar.  At this point, there is finally a real break from the patterns as the piano’s right hand moves high and plays descending chords over a strong buildup leading into the next measure.  Here, almost ironically, the piano bass moves away from the long “pedal point” G, going inward against the chords in the right hand.  The strings enter halfway through the measure at the climax, also in descending harmonies.  Everything rapidly quiets down as the piano breaks with rests, then the strings follow suit.  The cutoff is on the “dominant” of E, but as before the development, that key does not arrive.
RECAPITULATION
3:02 [m. 117]--Theme 1 (Rondo Theme) presented as at the beginning, except that the first string note is omitted and they begin on the second beat of the measure.
3:10 [m. 122]--Arpeggios on “diminished seventh” chords and buildup, as at 0:09 [m. 6].
3:18 [m. 127]--Powerful inversion of thematic material leading to C-major cadence, as at 0:17 [m. 11].
3:27 [m. 133]--Transition, analogous to 0:27 [m. 17].  It begins as in the exposition, but from the third measure, there are extremely subtle alternations to the harmony so that the motion is toward A minor instead of E minor.  This is done while keeping the melodic notes largely the same, with some half-step alterations.  The changes are so discreet and skillfully executed as to be almost unnoticeable.  The final string descent is at a new level, leading into the presentation of Theme 2 in A minor.
3:37 [m. 139]--Theme 2 (A minor-C minor), analogous to 0:37 [m. 23].  Initial presentation by piano, followed by string entry, then extension with motion toward C minor and E-flat major.
3:53 [m. 149]--Piano development of theme in E-flat major, analogous to 0:52 [m. 33].
3:58 [m. 153]--String entry and sequence with broken octaves leading to apparent cadence in C minor, analogous to 0:58 [m. 37].  The piano has a register shift down an octave in the fourth measure with a change of direction on the broken octaves in the right hand.
4:08 [m. 159]--Closing section (C major), analogous to 1:08 [m. 43].  The piano moves back up to the higher register.  Delicate piano triplets with zigzag cello counterpoint in straight rhythm.  F-sharp and D-sharp are prominent chromatic notes.
4:15 [m. 163]--Violin entry with strings in contrary motion against piano triplets in both hands, analogous to 1:14 [m. 47].  The violin cuts off a beat earlier than before, and the “half-diminished seventh” is rolled in the piano right hand instead of the expected analogous D-minor chord.
4:24 [m. 169]--The violin reiterates its last two bars, beginning with an accented upbeat held over the bar line.  The piano enters on the same upbeat, landing on the “dominant” chord on E suggesting A minor.  The cello enters on a shorter upbeat and plays three repetitions of A leaning into G-sharp, also suggesting A minor.  The piano follows with three ascending triplet arpeggios outlining a “dominant ninth” chord in A minor before the violin again cuts off at the same point.  This leads into the coda.
CODA
4:27 [m. 171]--The long coda begins with another thwarted harmonic expectation.  The piano plays a loud “dominant” chord on the upbeat, seemingly pointing at A minor, but it makes a “deceptive” motion to F major.  At that point, the volume suddenly quiets down, and the piano begins an arpeggio in slower quarter-note triplet rhythm, initially confirming F major.  The cello, meanwhile, begins an “augmented” presentation of the main theme, with the note values doubled.  The piano arpeggio changes its harmony at the dissonant note, which is now B-natural.  In the fourth measure, the violin takes over from the cello, and the piano’s arpeggio sequence moves higher.
4:34 [m. 175]--The cello begins another sequence of the “augmented” main theme against the slower piano arpeggios, now with the “dissonant” B-natural replaced by B-flat.  The upbeat after that, however, is changed from D-natural to D-flat.  It remains firmly in F major.  When the violin takes over, it is in double-stop harmonies.  The cello continues the theme now, lingering on the downward-winding figure.  The violin takes over, moving the figure down.  It is passed briefly to piano bass octaves, then both string instruments together in octaves.  The piano arpeggio, now all in the right hand, arches down and up.  The cello now imitates the piano bass a sixth above in a continuation of the stretched-out thematic melody.
4:51 [m. 185]--Brahms indicates a slight slowing.  The violin joins the cello in unison (not octaves), continuing the imitation of the piano bass, but now the melody is stretched out even more, especially in the strings, which essentially quadruple the length of the original notes.  The piano arpeggio reaches up, moving from harmonies on B-flat to E-flat (and thus away from F major), and finally to C major as the strings reach a C that is held out for two full bars (part of the extremely stretched-out melody).  The piano arpeggio on C (still in the long quarter-note triplets) reaches up in the left hand and is then passed to the right hand as the left turns down, the hands thus moving outward, the volume diminishing to pianissimo.
5:00 [m. 189]--The original tempo suddenly returns.  The piano, its hands having moved to opposite ends of the keyboard, plays broken octaves in the faster triplet rhythm in both hands.  The strings, meanwhile, emerge from their long-held C into the original notes of the main theme, with E shifted down to the minor-indicating E-flat.  They hold another C as the piano plays an exercise-like arpeggio on a “diminished seventh” chord, now moving inward and outward.  The strings now speed up the thematic opening and extend it against more broken-octave C’s from the widely-separated piano hands.  The inward-outward arpeggio follows again, and then there is another string statement of the extended, accelerated fragment.
5:08 [m. 194]--Building strongly, the strings now separate and play upward-reaching figures in long-short rhythm with harmony.  These steadily ascend over three statements in three measures, and the piano has one of the exercise-like inward/outward arpeggios in each of those measures.  The strings then break into detached long-short rhythm.  The piano’s right hand begins to cascade down while its left, moving to straight rhythm, arches up and down, creating a clash between the hands.  The violin reaches a high held A-flat at the fortissimo climax against the last long-short figure from the cello.  The key seems to have moved to E-flat major, but the following grand entry of Theme 2 is shifted up another level, to A-flat.
5:16 [m. 199]-- Theme 2 is given triumphantly in the key of A-flat from the strings in high octaves against strong piano chords.  The cello with piano bass octaves plays the stepwise descent.  At that point, the theme begins again, abruptly shifted home to C major.  The violin and piano, the latter with full harmony under the melodic notes, lead this presentation.  The stepwise descent is played in harmony by the strings.  This descent is reiterated with punctuating piano chords.  The violin then reaches up as the cello reaches down, leading to another major arrival point.
5:25 [m. 205]--The strings are now in contrary motion and fortissimo, further developing the main theme and moving inward.  The piano also moves inward, with bass octaves on the beat followed by chords off the beat.  The bass octaves and the cello line originally match the first notes of the main theme, with the violin and the off-beat right-hand chords inverting it.  The downward-winding figure from the theme is then given by the violin as the cello and piano bass begin another upward motion.  They now arch down and back up, the right hand still playing off-beat chords.  The violin reaches up an octave, and the harmony moves toward E, whose major and minor versions have played a big role in this movement.
5:32 [m. 210]--A diversion in E, mixing major and minor, resembles the original transition to Theme 2.  The violin leaps up and down, holding a note in the middle of the bar against chords from the piano and cello.  In the third bar, the syncopation becomes more pronounced, with the violin playing three two-beat units including a note held over a bar line.  The harmonies in the cello and piano follow this syncopation.  At the same time, the key moves strongly back to C major, and there is yet another strong arrival point.
5:39 [m. 214]--The strings move inward, starting far apart, as do the hands of the piano, the right hand again following the left off the beat.  The chromatic elements are initially removed from this passage derived from the main theme.  After two measures, the piano moves back outward, but the strings continue more, even briefly crossing each other (and thus still essentially doubling the piano), before they also move back outward.  The downward motion, passed from the violin to the cello and the right hand to the left, is a long, continuous chain of thirds.  At the end of this outward motion, the distinctive F-sharp from the main theme is heard one last time, supported by the usual “diminished seventh” harmony in the piano.
5:44 [m. 218]--To close off the movement and the trio, the violin and cello in octaves cascade down using the downward-winding figure from the main theme, supported by short rolled piano chords, in which the F-sharp is heard two more times.  The winding figure is then passed to the piano, also with the hands in octaves, the strings moving up with syncopated harmonies.  All three instruments cut off together.  They play a short “dominant” chord in the penultimate bar, then land on a grand held-out C-major chord, whose thickness is enhanced with a two-octave grace-note leap in the piano bass.
6:02--END OF MOVEMENT [224 mm.]
END OF TRIO


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