Minuet and Trio
Minuet Theme (C-major)
Trio Theme (A-minor)
Notes
After the Adagio evaporates into still silence, the minuet restores the lilt and the bright mood to the quartet. But the Trio moves to the relative minor, clouding the mood again with a somber tone. The rhythm of the trio theme bears much resemblance to the minuet theme. This creates a greater continutity between the two than is typical of classical minuets. But the reduced contrast only serves to emphasize the change of mode from the major to the minor. The trio has its own self-contained contrast, momentarily moving to the brighter key of A-major, a brief light within the dark trio, which itself is embedded within the light of the minuet.