The singular Claremont Trio filled the Isabella Stewart Gardener Museum’s Calderwood Hall on Sunday with a dynamic program of Sohy, Clarke, and Schumann to begin the Winter/Spring Weekend Concert series.

Coloristic piano textures washed over the hall for the duration of Charlotte Sohy’s newly revived Trio (1931), creating a ravishing musical atmosphere. Sohy, whose music is currently undergoing a revival, felt entirely welcome. The first movement opened with a striking pentatonic melody in octave-doubled strings, with a piano accompaniment tinged with the habanera-inspired rhythms of Debussy’s La soiree dans Grenade. Motoric triplets dominated the piano textures, and an ever-present call-and-response pattern between Emily Bruskin’s versatile violin tone and Julia Bruskin’s vibrato-rich cello took hold. Sophiko Simsive handled the busily composed piano part exceptionally well throughout, never overpowering the strings nor being lost in the mix. However, this piano part, which took on a mainly accompanimental role throughout, never gave her the space to let her true expressive ability shine, as it most certainly did later in the program. Despite this, this movement contained some truly inventive harmonic and structural touches from Sohy, which the trio brought to the forefront through their nuanced interpretation.

The second and third movements, Andante and Allegro respectively, had many of the same features of the first movement: an ever-shifting harmonic palate, a call-and-response-dominated texture, and a constantly motoric piano part. These common features among movements made it difficult to define an identity for each section. Furthermore, due to the continuous textures in the piano, the tempo differentiations between movements were not very prescient, and the whole piece took on a mid-tempo sound. This is at no fault to the performers, whose delicate musicianship helped to breathe life into each continuous phrase. There is simply little compositional “breathing room” in this work. It drives as relentlessly as Franck’s Piano Trio No. 1, but its eschewing of traditional tonal harmony occasionally leaves us lost in its wash of sound, rather than as observers of an unfolding musical journey.

Despite my minor stylistic gripes, I do believe this work, and Charlotte Sohy’s output in general, deserves further performance and study. Sohy’s compelling and original musical voice shines through the delicately constructed melodies of the Second Movement, and the many moments of truly virtuosic piano writing in the Third Movement. The Claremont Trio’s made a great case for the continuation of the Charlotte Sohy revival.

Rebecca Clarke’s stunning 1921 Piano Trio begins with strikingly dissonant chords in the strings that underpin a shrieking main theme in the piano. This theme developed and passed among the players before dissolving into a more spacious second theme permeated with Ravel-esque parallel triads. The latter devolved into a whisper before the raucous first theme returned. This movement deals with the interplay between these distinct melodic ideas, and the threesome handled these bipolar inflections expertly; violinist Emily Bruskin’s expressivity and versatility especially shone. Her tone felt perfectly placed and balanced at every moment. This movement also highlighted Sophiko Simsive’s exceptional pianism, as Clarke provided many opportunities for her carefully measured tone to take charge with the full dynamic range of the piano in play.

Movement II’s poignant melodies allowed Julia Bruskin’s sublime upper range in the cello to come to the forefront, adding an extreme level of emotionality to the texture. This movement contained some exceptionally innovative compositional touches, including a chorale in the strings backed by suggestive flourishes in the piano, and a polyrhythmic accompaniment that used natural harmonics in the strings underpinning a diatonic, pianistic melody that provided a break from the intensely chromatic language used previously. It felt incredibly touching, and I noticed many audience members wiping their eyes.

In the just-plain-fun third movement, densely contrapuntal hocketing string textures, pizzicato expletives, and grand, lyrical themes juxtaposed against each other in an exhilarating display. Once again, the exceptional musicianship of the players came to the fore, as all three took on these sea-changes with indelible dexterity and great enthusiasm.

After a brief intermission, we heard an expert traversal of Schumann’s expansive Piano Trio No. 1 in D Minor. The First Movement’s highly chromatic themes and adventurous textures gave way to a compelling and hefty scherzo, whose main theme bounced along through successive modulations. The group especially shone in the slow Third Movement, where long, languid melodies allowed the special expressivity of the string players to come to the forefront. Schumann’s mastery of counterpoint was on full display here, and the symbiotic push-and-pull among the three instruments offered a masterclass in balance. Going attacca into the Fourth movement proved exhilarating, and a high level of vibrancy and energy continued into the dense final stretch of this masterwork. After a triumphant smattering of D major chords, the evening ended in a standing ovation.

The Claremont Trio showed expert musicianship, expressive chops, and incredible technique on Sunday. Furthermore, their efforts to revive under-played composers and to program such a wide variety of repertoire has established them as versatile and conscientious musicians. This concert served as a wonderful opener to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum’s Winter/Spring concert series. The ensemble will return to Boston on March 30^th for a concert at Dorchester’s All Saints Church.

Owen Johnson is a Boston-based composer and pianist studying with Kati Agócs, currently enrolled in the rigorous Tufts/NEC dual-degree program. His music has been played by ensembles and performers throughout the Northeast, including by the New England Conservatory Philharmonia, the Pittsburgh Youth Concert Orchestra, and the Worcester Chamber Music Society.