Dmitri Shostakovich Piano Trio No. 2 in E minor, op. 67
The Piano Trio No. 2 in E minor, Op. 67, by Dmitri Shostakovich was written in 1944 and dedicated to his closest friend Ivan Sollertinsky after his death. The work received its premiere in Leningrad on 14 November 1944. The piece consists of four movements:
The first movement opens with an unusual harmonics theme from the unaccompanied cello. The theme later develops into an extended slow section where the cello and muted violin play inverted with the cello continuously playing in an eerie high register while the violin plays below it. The second and third movements fulfil the roles of the traditional classical scherzo and slow movement, though here the scherzo is almost overly lively and the third movement is quite mournful.
The final movement follows without a break; it is the longest movement of the piece, lasting nearly twelve minutes. It is very rhythmic and is built around a Jewish theme that Shostakovich hammers relentlessly and excessively, finally reaching an extended climax midway through the movement. The finale also quotes from the earlier movements: the first movement's opening slow section appears again only in a much faster tempo, and the slow movement's opening piano section appears just before the very end of the piece. It is also rumoured that the last movement was written with the image of walking on a graveyard; the violin begins the movement with a pizzicato theme that was meant to signify a man walking on bones in a graveyard.
This Jewish melody from the last movement was quoted in Shostakovich's famous String Quartet No. 8.