These are the two heavyweights of chamber music. I am talking not about the repertoire available for each ensemble, but about the way the instrumentation works.
Piano Trio has the bonus of the capabilities of the piano, and adds a contrasting texture. On the other hand, it can be overpowering (like a piano concerto) and feel out of place.
String Quartet is four voices, basically the ranges of an SATB choir, and all the instruments blend very well together. But - some may say that the texture is not varied enough.
I voted for SQ. There's something about having 4 equal voices blending together as one
I like the piano trio for sure but it's definitely the SQ for me:
a) I find both the freedoms and restrictions between the four related instruments more interesting as regards how composers over the centuries have responded to them, especially when attempting to break new ground.
I voted for string quartets, in chamber music the piano does not blend well with strings in my opinion. Furthermore with strings alone the harmonies can be pure, however due to heavy vibrato this is almost never exploited.
Because my main interest is in string quartet, I tend to see other form as 'competitor'. My experience with the other forms, piano trio (or whatever), mostly come in as a 'filler' to the string quartet disc. Including the quintets, sextets, woodwind form etc. Of course this is not true (as a filler...) and not healthy (..my way seeing it). For now I actually keen and love enjoy any kind of chamber music. The piano trio got some serious repertoire that I like, such as the Lalo's.
When I listen to Piano trio, or quartet or quintet, I don't have that Abraham Lincoln's obsession, that every instruments need to be equal each other. In fact I like it if one of them dominating. Piano trio is pretty balance, but still most of it I still unconsciously focused to the piano and not even sure what the cello doing there. That's why I like the most is Violin and Piano sonata, my other favorite form.
Haydn's piano trios are spectacular; every bit as good, in my opinion, as his string quartets! I don't find so much in Mozart's few piano trios, but Beethoven's are also extraordinary.
I chose string quartets, but piano trios only barely in second place, for me. It remains a great pity to me that so many composers of the mid to late 19th century and so on composed only a few of either genre [with a few notable exceptions]. If only Mendelssohn and Schumann had composed more of them, not to mention Brahms!
I've never thought that Piano Trios feel incomplete, but I do sometimes feel that the piano ends up taking a backseat accompaniment position to the violin and cello. In my opinion, there is nothing better than a well written Piano Trio where the three parts truly feel like equals (e.g. Rachmaninoff, Ravel, Beethoven), but I voted for the String Quartet just because the repertoire is so much more expansive and there are just so many great String Quartets.
Piano Trios. There is a certain magic with the number three. On the technical side, I am able to distinguish the individual voices easier than those of string quartets.
It's interesting how the man composers cope with the limited acoustic color of an exclusively string ensemble. Is it any wonder that, for many, the string quartet was reckoned the ultimate test of a composer's abilities?
Wow, tough question. Really depends on what mood I'm in, but I ended up voting for piano trio. I like the mellow sound that the piano adds to the strings.
In general, I would say that I prefer piano trios, in part because I am a pianist and I'm biased toward that instrument. However, Beethoven's late quartets are among my all-time favorite works, so I guess it's hard for me to say with certainty which genre I prefer.
I'm for the quartets, the combination of instruments sounds like they were meant to be played together, they balance and complement each other perfectly. With the piano it sounds also good to me, but it doesn't click as it does with the quartet.
Another one : impossible to choose, like them both.
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