BACKGROUND TO… Smetana’s Piano Trio in G minor

For all its passionate Romanticism, Smetana’s 1855 Piano Trio was composed in the shadow of tremendous sadness and grief. It was dedicated to his eldest daughter (Bedˇri ka) who had died at the age of four after contracting scarlet fever, when the composer was in his early thirties. There’s a keen sense of darkness and sorrow pervading the work, which otherwise features rich themes and the influence of eastern European folk music. It’s one of just a handful of chamber works by him, including the string quartets of 1876 and ’83.