Piano Trios

The piano trio was one of the of the nineteenth century’s most popular genres, and its repertoire was second in quantity and quality only to that of the string quartet. It is therefore no surprise that it was one of the forms favoured by young residents of the Villa Medici when the rules of the institution encouraged them to produce chamber music from 1894 onwards. While d’Ollone, winner of the Prix de Rome in 1897, composed his only trio late in his career, Debussy took advantage of his Italian visit in Fiesole around 1880 to write his own trio while preparing to compete for the Prix de Rome. Pierné and Lili Boulanger also tried their hands at the genre, and perfected their skills in writing for strings and piano during their stays in Rome in 1882 and 1913 respectively.