The Piano Trio was written in August 1970 in response to a commission from the pianist Ian Lake who was at that time director of the concert festival series Music in our Time. The Trio was conceived as one continuous movement divided into three sections. A long and slow-moving unison melodic line introduces the main Vivace movement which ends with wild trills before the 'Lento amoroso' central section. Finally, the events of the Vivace return and end the whole work with the same wild trills.