In a programme note on the Three Concert Studies, written by Alan Bush himself, it states: "In the suite of the Three Concert Studies for Piano Trio, opportunities are available for the study of the special technical difficulties of ensemble playing in the piano trio (violin, cello and piano). The first piece concentrates on the problems of intonation and also ensemble between the strings and piano in a rapid tempo. In the Nocturne, the emphasis is on balance and quality of tone. In the finale, rhythmical features are stressed; for this purpose the unequal beats of Bulgarian folk-music seemed to the composer to provide a source of many fruitful possibilities".

The first performance of the Three Concert Studies was given by the London International Trio - Jan Sedivka (violin), Sela Trau (cello) and Tom Bromley (piano), to whom the work is dedicated.

Discussing a later performance of the Three Concert Studies in a studio recital given by the Committee of New Music on 7 August 1951, the Musical Times (September 1951) wrote: "The work is adventurous in a way hardly expected of Bush, for the form is unusual for chamber music, and each study shows an original way of writing for the medium. The three together make an admirable work, and inspire the titles (Moto Perpetuo, Nocturne, Alla Bulgara); they are pure chamber music of high imaginative quality. Piano trios, unlike string quartets and sonata duos, are not well served with exciting new music, and Bush has provided something that should be very acceptable".

At a recent concert, on 3 April 2000, at the Purcell Room London, it was played by Adam Summerhayes (violin), Joseph Spooner (cello) and Catherine Summerhayes (piano). In a notice in the Times, 5 April 2000, Geoff Brown wrote of the performance, "The show-stopper (of the concert), however, was the Three Concert Studies. Such marvellous music hides behind this drab title: a hurtling Moto Perpetuo, a tender nocturnal song, and a Bulgarian whirlwind".