The Horn Trio in E flat major (1865) commemorates the death of Brahms’ mother, Christiane, earlier that year. Nineteenth century listeners associated the sound of the natural horn with nature and the calls of the hunt. Fittingly, Brahms once said that the opening theme of the first movement came to him while he was walking through the woods. Brahms also learned natural horn (as well as piano and violin) as a child, which may be another reason why he chose to write for these instruments following the death of his mother.
In the first movement, Brahms emphasizes the simplicity of the opening theme by abandoning the structure of sonata form. Instead, he introduces three slow sections offset by two shorter, more rhapsodic segments. Brahms deviates from the classical style of opening a work with a fast movement, continuing with a slow movement, a scherzo, and closing with a lively finale; instead, he uses an earlier structure from the Baroque era, ordering the movements slow-fast-slow-fast.
Since the work as a whole simulates the stages of mourning, the Scherzo serves as the reminder of happy memories. As in the first movement, Brahms uses the pitches of the E flat overtone series to establish the theme. (This theme is found in some variation in every movement, most directly in the Finale: Allegro con brio.) The playfulness that the tempo suggests, offers a break from the slow and somber surrounding movements.
The opening solo piano bars of the Adagio mesto set up the solemn, contemplative mood of the movement that is emphasized by the entrance of the violin and horn. The Adagio from the Horn Trio is known to be one of Brahms’ most impassioned and heartfelt slow movements.
The Finale contains the main theme that is present in the previous three movements, but it is prominently displayed in E-flat major in a lively tempo. The joy felt in the Finale symbolizes the recovery at the end of mourning.
