Arensky’s Piano Trio No 1 (1894) was written as a memorial to legendary Russian cellist Karl Davydov, with its romantic intensity and elegiac character reflecting the Russian tradition of emotional richness.

Twenty years later, as Europe stood on the brink of war, Ravel completed his Piano Trio in A minor (1914). Infused with Basque rhythms and colour, it combines refinement with urgency and was finished just before Ravel enlisted, giving the work an edge of historical poignancy.