A reed trio, also known as a trio d’anches, is a mixed chamber ensemble consisting of three reed instruments: oboe, clarinet and bassoon. Either term can also refer to a musical composition for this ensemble.
History The origins of the reed trio are more recent than the wind quintet: while the latter arose early in the nineteenth century, the first known composition for reed trio, a work by French composer Ange Flégier, was not written until 1897.Fliégier reed trio on IMSLP The reed trio ranks second only to the wind quintet among woodwind chamber ensembles in terms of popularity and quantity of original repertoire. The reed trio genre became more firmly established in the late 1920s by bassoonist Fernand Oubradous, oboist Myrtile Morel and clarinetist Pierre Lefèbvre, who together comprised the .History of the reed trio on Trio Lézard's website Much of the original repertoire for the reed trio was written for Oubradous’ ensemble as well as the contemporaneous (René Daraux, oboe; Fernand Gossens, clarinet; Ange Maugendre, bassoon). Professional reed trios that have produced commercial recordings include the Saarland Radio Wind Trio, Ensemble Trielen, Trio Lézard, the Cavell Trio, Trio d’Anches de Cologne, Trio d’Anches Hamburg, Trois Bois, Trio d'Anches de Monte-Carlo, Zagreb Wind Trio and Ocotillo Winds.
Oiseau-Lyre Wind Trios Several French composers are responsible for contributing some of the first works for reed trio and have written standards that are part of the Oiseau-Lyre Wind Trio Collection. This collection consists of seven compositions by Darius Milhaud, Jacques Ibert, Georges Auric, and Henry Barraud. These works came as a response to the formation of the well-received Trio d’anches de Paris in the 1930s. Louise Hanson-Dyer collaborated with the Trio d'anches de Paris to publish and record the music with her company Éditions de l’Oiseau-Lyre.
List of reed trios by country Argentina , Sonata Trío (1960) Juan María Solare, Anche (2002) Juan María Solare, Soundtrack for an Imaginary Cartoon (2025). Movements: Animated Animation, Whimsical Capers, Shenanigans, Unnoticed, as Planned, On the Sly, Home Office, Tongue in Cheek, A Hint of Longing, Lucky Wheel, High Spirits.
Belgium
, Trio (1950) , Trio à anches (1946) , Trio (1948) Jacqueline Fontyn, Sept petites pièces (1954) Marinus De Jong, Trio, Op. 126 (1961) Victor Legley, Trio, Op. 11 (1942) René Maniet, Trio d'anches (1959), Trio d'anches No. 2 (1960), Concert d'anches (1964)
Arthur Meulemans, Trio (1933) Arie Van de Moortel, Trio No. 1, Op. 3 (1939, rev. 1954), Divertimento No. 1 (1962), Divertimento No. 3 (1966) , Trio No. 2 (1941), Trio No. 3 (1960) Marcel Poot, Divertimento (1942), Ballade (1954) , Trois jouets, Op. 53 (1954)
Brazil
Maria Inês Guimarães, Primavera
Heitor Villa-Lobos, Trio (1921)
Bulgaria
Marin Goleminov, Trio (1966)
, Trio en mi, Op. 14 (1937)
Canada
Violet Archer, Divertimento (1949) Bill Douglas, Trio (2007) Sophie Carmen Eckhardt-Gramatté, Wind Trio I, E115 (1968) Jacques Hétu, Four Miniatures (1987)
David L. Kaplan, Three Sketches (1955) Blago Simeonov, Max and Moritz (1964) León Zuckert, Reminiscences Argentinas: Suite para trio de viento (1981)
Croatia
Bruno Bjelinski, Gumpis Trio Srđan Dedić, Šumatina Krešimir Fribec, Miniature Fran Lhotka, Trio
Ivo Maček, Trio (1994) Rudolf Matz, Trio Boris Papandopulo, Mala Suita (1949) Vlado Špoljarić, Chaconne (1971)
Czech Republic/Slovakia
Vítězslava Kaprálová, Trio (1938, incomplete) Iša Krejčí, Trio-Divertimento (1935) , Trio
Bohuslav Martinů, Quatre Madrigaux, H. 266 (1937) Erwin Schulhoff, Divertissement (1927)
Denmark
Gunnar Berg, Trio d'anches (1955)
Mogens Winkel Holm, Note-Book (1983)
France
Arthur Aharonian, Trio d'anches (1989) Gabriel Allier, Scène champêtre (1920) Claude Arrieu, Trio d’anches (1936), Trio in C (1948) Chantal Auber, Contraste (1994) Georges Auric, Trio (1938) Claude Ballif, Trio, Op. 8 (1952) Roger Boutry, Divertissement Eugène Bozza, Suite brève en trio (1947) Pierre de Bréville, Trio d’anches Joseph Canteloube, Rustiques (1946) Marius Constant, Trio (1950) Jean-Yves Daniel-Lesur, Suite (1939) Fernande Decruck, Capriccio (1933), Variations en trio sur l’air de P’tit Quinquin (1935), Orientales (1943), Variations sur un air pyrénéen (1945), Pavane (1949), Sonata en Trio (1949), Trio classique Désiré Dondeyne, Suite d'airs populaires (1962) Pierre-Max Dubois, Trio d'anches (1958) Louis Durey, Divertissement, Op. 107 Maurice Faillenot, Suite brève Georges Favre, Gouaches-Suite (1957) Pierre-Octave Ferroud, Trio in E Major (1933) , Trio (1897) Félicien Forêt, Suite en trio (1953) Jean Françaix, Divertissement Maurice Franck, Trio d’anches (1937); Deuxième Trio d’anches (1960) Noël Gallon, Suite en Trio Ida Gotkovsky, Trio d’anches (1954) Émile Goué, Three Pieces (1937) Reynaldo Hahn, Églogue (1937)
Charles Huguenin, Trio No. 1, Op. 30 (c1905); Trio No. 2, Op. 31 Jacques Ibert, Cinq pièces en trio (1935) , Trio (1972) Manfred Kelkel, Divertimento (1958) Charles Koechlin, Trio, Op. 206] (1945) Marcel Labey, Suite pour trio d'anches, Op. 47 Aubert Lemeland, Canzoni di Asolo, Op. 100 Raymond Loucheur, Portraits Henri Martelli, Trio d'anches Jean Martinon, Sonatine No. 4 pour trio d’anches, Op. 26, No. 1 (194) Georges Migot, Thrène (1946), Trio d'anches (1946) Marcel Mihalovici, Trio, Op. 71 (1955) Darius Milhaud, Pastorale, Op. 147 (1935), Suite d'après Corrette, Op. 161b (1937) Paul Pierné, Bucolique variée (1947) Jean Rivier, Petite Suite (1946) Guy Ropartz, Entrata e Scherzetto (1947) Albert Roussel, Andante d'un trio d'anches inacheve (1937) Jeanine Rueff, Trois pièces (1960) Henri Sauguet, Trio (1946) , Haclaba Alexandre Tansman, Suite pour trio d’anches (1954) Henri Tomasi, Concert champêtre Jacques Vallier, Trio d'anches Marc Vaubourgoin, Trio (1927) Alain Weber, Trio (1959)
Germany
Victor Bruns, Trio, Op. 49 (1979) Harald Genzmer, Trio (1994)
Paul Höffer, Kleine Suite (1944), Thema mit Variationen (1944) Bertold Hummel, Noël: Little Christmas Suite, Op. 87e
Hungary
Iván Erőd, Bläsertrio, Op. 4 Ferenc Farkas, Maskarade: Commedia dell'arte (1986) Miklós Kocsár, Divertimento
, Serenade Erzsébet Szőnyi, Five Old Dances (1969)
Israel Lior Navok, Jongleurs (2024)
Italy Fulvio Caldini, Guillaume, Op. 10 (1983)
Japan
Sadao Bekku, Trio d’anches (1953) Maki Ishii, Black Intention II
Jiro Mikami, Autumn Prelude in E minor Makoto Shinohara, Trio d'anches (1956)
Lithuania
Vidmantas Bartulis, To Yesterday (1981) Martynas Bialobžeskis, Meditatonic (1996)
Jonas Paulikas, From the Stories of Winnie-the-Pooh (1983)
Luxembourg
, Trio d'anches, Op. 5 (1953)Cigrang Trio d'Anches at Luxembourg Music Publishers
Claus Krumlovsky, Trio d'anches (1974)
Macedonia Toma Prošev, Četiri eseja
Netherlands
Henk Badings, Trio No. 2 Rudolf Escher, Trio d’anches (1949)
Jaap Geraedts, Divertimento No. 1 (1943), Divertimento No. 2 (1946) Jan Koetsier, 6 Bagatelles
Norway
Edvard Hagerup Bull, Trois bucoliques, Op. 14 (1953)
Trygve Madsen, Serenata Monellesca, Op. 26
Poland
Andrzej Dobrowolski, Trio (1956) Benedykt Konowalski, Mini-Rondo (1973) Simon Laks, Concertino pour trio d’anches (1966)
Witold Lutosławski, Trio (1945) , Sonatina (1946) Antoni Szałowski, Trio (1936), Divertimento (1956) Wladyslaw Walentynowicz, Trio for Reeds (1981)
Romania
Maya Badian, Trio (1981) Dumitru Bughici, , op. 30 (1968) Liviu Comes, Trio for oboe, clarinet et bassoon (1987) Dora Cojocaru, Trio (1983) Liviu Dănceanu, Ossia, op. 10 (1982) Dan Dediu, Rondo alla Munchausen (2013) Violeta Dinescu, Trio d'anches (1982) Felicia Donceanu, Trio-divertisment (1978), Diptic (1989) Anton Dogaru, 12 (1987) , Petite suite bucolique (1953) Dinu Lipatti, Trei Sonate de Scarlatti (1943)
Mihail Andreescu Skeletty, Trio (1957) Gheorghe Stănescu, Trio, (1980) Hans Peter Turk, Trio nr. 1 (1964), Trio nr. 2 (1981) Paul Urmuzescu, Filip Vasile, Divertisment (1975) Marina Vlad, (1988) Lucian Vlădescu, (1988) Adalbert Winkler, (1988)
Russia
Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov, Two Kirghiz Songs (1931) Dmitri Melkikh, Trio, Op. 17 (1926)
Tatiana Smirnova, Tercet, Op. 59, No. 4 (1984)
Sweden
Karl-Birger Blomdahl, Trio (1938)
Hilding Rosenberg, Trio, Op. 42 (1927)
Switzerland
Paul Juon, Arabesken, Op. 73 (1940) Sándor Veress, Sonatina (1933)
Julien-François Zbinden, Trio d'anches, Op. 12 (1949)
United Kingdom
Mary Chandler, Divertimento (1956), Trio (1967) Gordon Jacob, Trio
Patric Standford, Cartoons (1984)Standford Cartoons (composer's website)
United States
Jenni Brandon, The Sequoia Trio, Spider Trio, Found Objects: On the Beach, L’Étoile du Nord James Chaudoir, Sept Vignettes (1996)
Kirke Mechem, Trio, Op. 8 (1959) Stephen Halloran, Reed Trio, Op. 23 (1995) Steven Rydberg, Three Quicksteps (1984) Greg Simon, Devil Winds (2014)
Reed trio with accompanying instruments Reed trio with orchestra Henri Tomasi, Divertimento Corsica for reed trio, strings and harp (1952)
Reed trio with piano
Lukáš Hurník, Fusion Music Florent Schmitt, À tour d’anches, Op. 97 (1943)
Patric Standford, Suite Humoresque (1987)Standford Suite Humoresque (composer's website) Germaine Tailleferre, Sonata champêtre (1972), Menuet en fa (1979)
Reed trio with electronics Dai Fujikura, Phantom Splinter (2009)
References
Further reading