The
piano trio consists of three movements. The first movement is constructed of three successive segments. In the first, the
violin is silent, the
cello is silent for the second, and all three instruments join for the third, with adjustments made to the piano melody originally heard in the first segment, as well as the violin melody that returns from the second segment. The second movement, TSIAJ, employs
polytonality,
timbral contrast, and quotation for a downright humorous effect. Fragments of
American folk songs are intertwined throughout the movement, although often grotesquely altered with respect to rhythm, pitch, and harmonic connotation. Folk songs appearing in the scherzo include "
My Old Kentucky Home", "
Sailor's Hornpipe", "
The Campbells Are Coming", "
Long, Long Ago", "
Hold the Fort". and "
Praise for the Fountain Opened", among many others. Drawing from his college days at
Yale University, Ives also quotes a number of fraternity songs including the
Delta Kappa Epsilon tune "A Band of Brothers in DKE", which appears prominently near the beginning of the movement. It is notable that one of his sketches for the movement includes the subtitle "Medley on the Campus Fence", referring to the songs popular among Yale students during his college years. And although the composer himself acknowledged that the entire movement was a joke, it well characterizes the unique and novel musical world that only Ives had discovered. The lyricism of the final movement of the piano trio contrasts strongly with the variegated montage of tunes in TSIAJ. Sweeping lyrical melodies alternate with lighter syncopated sections after the opening introduction and violin recitative. Nonetheless, Ives continues with his borrowing habits – quoting music that he had originally written for the
Yale Glee Club (though it was rejected) in the lyrical violin-cello canon in bars 91–125. The coda quotes
Thomas Hastings’ “
Rock of Ages” in the
cello, ending the movement with Ives’ characteristic rooting in American folk and popular music. ==References==