Clara Schumann Piano trio in G minor, Op. 17 - Andante

Clara and Robert Schumann shared so many musical interests that after a few years of marriage, their compositions began to sound quite similar. During the 1845-46 season, pregnant with her 4th child, Clara was unable to tour as a concert pianist and so stayed home and put her new contrapuntal skills to work in a piano trio. It is considered one of her best works and it's one of her few compositions more extended than lieder and keyboard character pieces. Like Robert, Clara here maintains a thick sound, but it's because all three instruments are playing contrapuntally much of the time, not because one is essentially doubling another's part, as was often the case with Robert.