String Trio, D581, III, Trio to the Menuet

Schubert's Bb Major String Trio, D581, composed in fall 1817, has four movements, all of which meet the topical and design expectations of the time, as one might expect of a 20-year old composer still finding his way. The Menuet has a number of distinctive gestures that confirm its status as a late-style menuet. Its trio would be the ideal place to introduce the texture of the dance trio (two violins and bass) that would have been familiar from dance music played in taverns and restaurants at the time: see the second paragraph of this post for more on that.

Schubert, however, seems to be doing his best to refine the tavern-waltz topic, if we can call it that, although in some respects the result must have seemed komisch to his listeners. The solo role given to the viola is unusual, to say the least, and the sound of the instrument distorts the ensemble sound of the tavern-trio. Not played carefully, the first strain can sound metrically awkward (mainly because of the displaced beginning of the melody -- Schubert fixes it in the reprise (see the third system)). (Here's a link to an audio file with an excellent performance: D581, III & IV. The trio runs from 1:45-3:00.)

Still, with its prominent ^5-^6 play (boxed at the beginning), the first strain is recognizable as a Ländler, and in fact even with its displaced first note it can easily be rewritten to make a perfectly good dance piece (provided the violist can handle the tune): see below

The contrasting middle (first eight bars of the second section), on the other hand, is a stereotypical menuet pattern. Altogether a work that shows the same topical uncertainties (or perhaps topical blending) that lie at the back of D779n13.