The trio opens with a nightmarish response to Debussy’s piano prelude ...des pas dans la neige. (Footsteps in the snow.) Although it borrows its short melodic and rhythmic motif from Debussy’s still and calm work, its mood is diametrically opposed – in truth, an appropriate title for this movement might well be blood in the snow! After the texture unwinds, shatters, and disintegrates, the three instruments feel their way in the dark and gradually attempt to piece things back together. Nevertheless, the piano concludes with a muffled, resigned version of its introductory gesture, suggesting that nothing has been resolved.

The second movement oscillates between contemplative and playful moods. This ambivalence is present from the start, when the searching violin solo of the opening is punctuated by playful bird-like comments from the piano. The clarinet ushers in a faster middle section during which the three instruments have a dialogue and both the bird idea and the violin’s rising