String trio literature of the twentieth century

The string trio medium has flourished intermittently during the twentieth century, and as a result there is little continuity in its development. Instead, the works in this medium fall into a number of trends or schools of composition. Some of these trends developed simultaneously and often they had little or no effect upon each other. It is the purpose of this paper to identify these various trends, and by analysing the works which belong to them, to discover what influences the composers felt, and what contributions they made to the repertoire.