The Horn Trio in E-flat major, Op. 40, by Johannes Brahms is a chamber piece in four movements written for natural horn, violin, and piano. Composed in 1865, the work commemorates the death of Brahms’ mother. However, it draws on a theme which Brahms had composed twelve years previously but did not publish at the time. The work was first performed in 1865, and published a year later. Brahms chose to write the work for natural horn rather than valve horn despite the fact that the valve horn was becoming more common. The timbre of the natural horn is more somber and melancholic than the valve horn and creates a much different mood. Nineteenth-century listeners associated the sound of the natural horn with nature and the calls of the hunt. Brahms also learned natural horn (as well as piano and cello) as a child, which may be another reason why he chose to write for these instruments following the death of his mother. Brahms revised the trio in 1891.
