52. Trio in fa

The indication “Trio” signifies the middle part of a scherzo and not a work for three instruments. This is certainly the trio for the Scherzo (34) of the String Quartet (see also NOTES to 34). However, the evidence of scoring for as many as seven voices in the autograph manuscripts 52.A.1 and 52.A.2 leads one to assume that this is a work Puccini began to orchestrate (see 52.A.3).
All three sources probably date from autumn 1883, when Puccini needed a waltz for the introductory scene of Le Villi (60). In fact, the instrumentation discernable in 52.A.3 is the same as in Le Villi, and the music paper used frequently appears in the drafts for that opera, but also as early as December 1882 (see 35.A.5). Ultimately, however, Puccini did not use this music in Le Villi.
Much later, he used the subject of this Trio in the first act of Madama Butterfly (74) (from fig. 32+6).