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Andrea
Mills - cello • Diego Tornelli
- piano • Andrew
Smith - violin
The Trio programs are drawn from the following works, encompassing both classic masterpieces and exciting modern works by contemporary masters. Sample programs are listed below but a programcan be designed that will suit your audience base and series requirements. For advice on program choices please feel free to email us for more information.
Anton Arensky - Piano Trio in d minor
Ludwig van Beethoven - Piano Trio in E flat op.1 #1
Ludwig van Beethoven - Piano Trio in D major op.70 #1 "The Ghost"
Ludwig van Beethoven - Piano Trio in B Flat op.97 "The Archduke"
J. Brahms - Piano Quartet in g minor op.25
Frank Bridge - Piano Trio #1 "Phantasie"
Alexis de Castillon - Piano Trio in b flat Op.4
Frédéric Chopin - Piano Trio in g minor Op.8
Dennis Friesen-Carper - “My True Gift’s to Come”
Antonin Dvorak - PianoTrio in e minor op.90 "Dumky"
Gabriel Faure - Piano Trio op.120
Joseph Haydn - Piano Trio in C major Hob XV, 27
Joseph Haydn - Piano Trio in G HobXV26 "Gypsy Rondo"
Charles Ives - Piano Trio
Oliver Messiaen — “Quartet for the End of Time” (violin, clarinet, cello, piano)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Piano Trio in E major K.V. 542
Wolgang Amadeus Mozart - Piano Trio in C major K.V. 548
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Piano Quartet in g minor
Michael Nyman - Time Will Pronounce (1992)
Andrzej Panufnik - Piano Trio Op.1
Walter Piston - Piano Trio #1 (1935)
Paul Schoenfield - Cafe Music
Shulamit Ran - Soliloquey (1997)
Camille Saint-Saëns - Piano Trio #1 in F major, op.18
Paul Schoenfield - Cafe Music
Robert Schumann - Piano Trio in d minor op.63
Bedrich Smetana - Piano Trio in g minor op.15
Dmitri Shostakovich - Piano Trio in e minor op.67
Dmitri Shostakovich - Seven Romances for Soprano & Piano Trio
Jacob TV - Nivea Hair Care Styling Mousse
Program Notes
© Andrew Smith 2004 - Not to be used without permission of the author
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 – 1827) - Piano Trio in D Major Op.70 No.1 “The Ghost”
Allegro vivace e con brio
Largo assai ed espressivo
PrestoThe Piano Trio in D major Op.70 No.1 dates from 1808. Beethoven's chamber music from this period is designed on an altogether bigger scale, destined for the concert hall rather than private performance. The work combines both Symphonic breadth with a conciseness of thematic material and contains numerous elements designed to both please and shock his audience. Its nickname of “The Ghost” refers to the dramatic Largo at the center of the work, which has been connected to sketches that Beethoven made for an opera based on Shakespeare’s Macbeth.
The first movement is dominated by the contrast between the loud opening unison and the gentle melody that quickly follows it. The music is a discussion of sorts. The themes are passed back and forth between the instruments, broken apart and placed back together again in dramatic style. The Largo that follows is surprising in the extreme. Not unexpectedly it has been connected to the witches scene in Macbeth. Whether the connection was in Beethoven’s mind or not it can certainly be seen as a wonderful example of early gothic tone painting, preceding Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein by ten years. The finale relieves the drama of the slow movement with a lighthearted Presto that starts and stops as if to confuse and amuse the listener. Taking his joke to an extreme with childlike pizzicatos, Beethoven brings the trio to a close at break neck speed.
Frank Bridge (1879 – 1941) - Piano Trio No. 1 (Phantasie in c minor) - 16 minutes
Allegro moderato ma con fuoco – Andante con molto espressione – Allegro scherzo – Allegro moderato
Known principally as the teacher of Benjamin Britten, Frank Bridge is widely beloved in his homeland, England, as one of the finest late-Romantic British composers. Like his American contemporary, Amy Beach, his works, written in a romantically chromatic style, are deeply admired and yet sadly neglected.
After training at the Royal College of Music in London, Bridge started his career as a violist with the world renowned Joachim Quartet and was later a member of the English String Quartet. He is now principally remembered in performance for his fine chamber works and the Piano Trio No. 1 (entitled Phantasie in c minor) is one of his very earliest works in the style written in 1900, while he was in his second year of training as a student. It is a single movement trio hewn out of four contrasting sections following the classical model: Allegro – Slow movement – Scherzo – Finale. The closely argued themes and densely concise structure show the marked skill of a young composer fully immersed in the musical styles of his era.
The opening Allegro is imbued with a passionate and restless nature. Its dark and brooding melodies are shared between instruments and give way to a romantic Andante introduced by the cello. The Scherzo interrupts with a buoyant charm reminiscent of Mendelssohn (Queen Victoria’s favorite composer). But the music of the opening Allegro returns and the swell of passion that it carries with it lead us towards a rousing close.
Alexis de Castillon (1838 – 1873) - Piano Trio in B flat Op.4
Prélude et Andante - Scherzo - Romance - Finale
The period from 1870 to 1914 has been called the golden age of French music - the era of the French Chanson, Debussy, Fauré and Ravel. This blossoming of an art form had its foundations in aesthetic and political crisis. In the years following their defeat in the Franco-Prussian War, young French composers attempted to wash away their shame by establishing a National musical identity. They looked to the German Romantic composers of the lied and the string quartet for inspiration. And to establish their manifesto they founded the Société Nationale de Musique in 1871, a meeting place for composers to perform their work.
Saint-Saëns, Bizet, Fauré, Massenet, Duparc, Franck, D’Indy and Chausson and were among the first members of the Société. They met regularly to play their music and exchange ideas. Alexis de Castillon, a young composer and disciple of César Franck, was a central figure among them. Born to an aristocratic family he was well educated, financially independent and like his friend, the lawyer and composer Henri Duparc, he was able to offer his organizational skills to the Société. In 1868, like many of the younger composers in France, he was drawn to the composition classes of César Franck but after only two years the war disrupted his plans and ill health hampered his progress. He died in 1873 having written only a handful of compositions, including a string quartet, a piano quartet and piano quintet, two piano trios and various piano works. His devotion to the genre of chamber music and commitment to the Société was an example to his compatriots and his memory was kept alive with repeated performances of his works at the concerts. His death served as a reminder of the Société’s mission and Franck, Fauré, Chausson and Debussy all remembered their debt to him in their chamber music masterpieces
Castillon’s free melodic invention and endless search for innovation show a young composer of talent keen to discover his compositional voice. The Op.4 Piano Trio opens with a Prélude that offers a fortaste of his adventurous and even mischievous spirit. The piano’s opening declamation is punctuated by unexpected harmonic twists that warn the listener to be on guard. Melting into a beautiful andante introduced in the cello, all three voices gradually emerge, forming a complex counterpoint. The Scherzo that follows disrupts the serious tone with a schizophrenic humor. Mendelssohnian fairy music is pitted against a lumbering country-bumpkin theme. Later, a fugal theme interjects a note of academic seriousness that can only be tongue-in-cheek. The third movement Romance of has all the hallmarks of César Franck’s instruction. The instruments enter one by one, passing a beautiful melody between the parts. The intertwining Andante winds its way to a climax and fades away reluctantly, leading directly to a Finale Allegro that recalls the humor of the Scherzo. The string pizzicatos twang with wrong notes that clash against a jovial dance tune straight from the cafes of Paris. This jaunt down the boulevards of Paris is interrupted by a pastoral trio and then a second trio full of romantic abandon. The Romance makes a brief return before the movement comes to a rousing end.
Frédéric Chopin (1810 – 1849) - Piano Trio in g minor, Op.8
Allegro con fuoco
Scherzo – con moto ma non troppo
Adagio sostenuto
Finalle – allegretto“Hats off gentleman! A Genius!” So Robert Schumann hailed the young Chopin in 1831, the young Polish composer of an altogether new style of romantic piano music. Chopin is of course remembered for his exquisite polonaises, waltzes and mazurkas. Yet Chopin’s creative spark was fostered in the private salons of Europe, where chamber music had its principal Patron. Here the virtuoso vocalists, violinists, cellists and pianists of the day made their reputations and honed their solo careers for the public concert platform. Chopin, together with Liszt, was the darling of the salon scene and the small number of chamber music pieces written for his friends offer the listener many fine examples of his genius.
Chopin’s Piano Trio in g minor, Op.8 dates from the period preceding his first Viennese concert tour of 1829, while he was still a teenager. A neglected gem, its four movements have all the flavor of the mature composer and of course showcase the prowess of the pianist to full advantage. The first movement has a dramatic opening worthy of Beethoven but with the romantic yearning of Schumann. The piano, as it does throughout the work, dominates the discussion of this sonata Allegro movement allowing the cello and violin to color the music. The third movement Adagio presents a special moment in the work – a freely evolving cantabile spiced with the exotic flavors of Chopinesque ornamentation. The piano, violin and cello achieve an equal status, each daring to stretch the listener’s attention as they take turn to decorate the melody in ever more complex metrical variations. The daring of the Adagio is offset by a gentle Allegretto finale. It is filled with characteristic dance tunes that displace the beat and offer a folksy glimpse at Chopin’s Polish background.
Franz Josef Haydn (1732 – 1809) - Piano Trio in C major Hob XV 26
Allegro - Andante - Finale:Presto
Josef Haydn is often thought of as “The father of the string quartet” and many credit his symphonies with establishing the form. And yet the forty-three piano trios by Haydn testify that here is a composer whose prolific ability for invention is greatly underestimated, even today.
The Piano Trio in C major is one of many gems in the genre. Composed in 1797, as the talent of a young Ludwig Beethoven was first reaching the ears of a select few, it has all the elegance of an earlier classical style whilst looking forward to the more dramatic style of Beethoven’s opus 1 trios. Written in three movements, the opening Allegro is typically sunny in character with “Papa” Haydn at the height of his powers: virtuoso piano writing, baroque counterpoint and trick reprises designed to catch the unwary listener. The slow movement is a delicate Andante presented principally in the piano, the middle minore section offering the only brooding music of the whole piece. The work ends with a blistering Finale, filled with buffoonery and over almost before it has begun.
Franz Josef Haydn (1732 – 1809) - Piano Trio in G major “Gypsy Rondo” Hob XV, 25
Andante - Poco Adagio - Finale: Rondo All'Ongarese
Josef Haydn is often thought of as “The father of the string quartet” and many credit his symphonies with establishing the form. And yet the forty-three piano trios by Haydn testify that here is a composer whose prolific ability for invention is greatly underestimated, even today.The Piano Trio in G major is perhaps the most famous of the trios and established itself firmly in the repertoire from early in its life. The elegant charm of the opening Andante reflects an innocent era when chamber music and the sonata were played for an afternoon’s entertainment in the private parlors of the dilettante. The violin and piano shadow each other closely throughout the movement while the cello is given a more subdued role. A beautiful adagio lies at the heart of the trio with a cantabile line spun in a delicate clothe in the upper lines of the piano and then the violin. A rousing Gypsy Rondo Finale closes the piece in the Turkish Style made popular in Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven. This colorful movement, in which the cello is finally allowed some virtuoso freedom, has made this early example of Haydn's trios one of the most dearly loved.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 – 1791) - Piano Trio in E Major K 542
Allegro - Andante grazioso - Allegro
The last six piano trios represent the summit of Mozart’s writing in the genre and the E Major K. 542 and K.502 stands at the apex of that summit. Written in Vienna in the extraordinary summer of 1788, it shares many traits with the three last symphonies, composed around the same time. Indeed, elements of the Jupiter Symphony can be traced in the melodies of the last movement. And yet for all its grand relations to Mozart’s major works, the E Major Piano Trio is highly restrained and has more of the character of Mozart’s earlier chamber music.
At the center of the work stands an exquisite Andante grazioso. Its grace and poise are almost Schubertian in character and the constant return to a gentle melody suggests a certain timeless quality. Framing this middle movement are two Allegros. These Allegros have a happy and optimistic character that could well point to a Mozart fresh from the successes of his new opera, Don Giovanni, premiered in 1878. The opening Allegro contrasts a gently lilting theme with virtuoso scales that rocket upwards and the final Allegro portrays a wealth of melodic invention. Opening with the simplicity of a Clementi sonatina, the finale presents a number of themes, freely introduced, that lead us through a variety of moods towards a joyful end.
Shulamit Ran (b1949) - Soliloquy for Piano Trio (1997)
Pulitzer Prize winning composer Shulamit Ran, was born in Tel Aviv, Israel and holds the William H. Colvin Chair at the University of Chicago. A visiting professor at Princeton she has received numerous honorary doctorates from and awards for her music. Her own thoughts on Soliloquy are published with the work:
“Soliloquy, a single movement work of approximately 8 minutes, owes its inspiration in no small part to the experience of being preoccupied over a period of some three years (between 1995 and 1997) with the creation of my first opera, Between Two Worlds (The Dybbuk), based on S. Ansky’s famous Yiddish play by the same name. In 1995, I composed Yearning for violin and string orchestra, for Edna Michell, based on a fragment of the opera, then in-progress, and Soliloquy is a recasting of this work, adapted for the Peabody Trio.
My compositional point of departure was a musical line which begins the opening soliloquy of Khonnon, the play’s (and opera’s) protagonist, where his yearning and desire for his beloved Leya is first revealed. In The Dybbuk, Khonnon dies when it becomes clear that his love is to remain unrequited. Whereas most similar tales would end right there, Khonnon’s death is only the first step in the journey to fulfill the great longing of the doomed would-be lovers.
While the aforementioned phrase (originally a tenor lie, played here on the cello) served as the compositional “trigger” for me in Soliloquy, it placement in this work differs from its operatic analog in that it appears as the answer (consequent phrase) to Soliloquy’s principal themes, a newly-composed violin line. This legato line is loosely based on a whole-tone configuration, a different melodic permutation of which is associated throughout the opera with Khonnon’s desire, and which I have come to think of as the opera’s “lust motif”
The title refers not only to Khonnon’s soliloquy, but also to the fact, although written for a standard piano trio combination, it is, in fact, the violin which serves as the carrier, the “voice” of the piece, and its emotional center.”
- Shulamit Ran
Dmitri Shostakovich (1906 – 1975) - Piano Trio in e minor Op.67
Andante – moderato – poco più mosso
Allegro non troppo
Largo
Allegretto - adagioShostakovich’s music has often been at the center of debate. Alternately lauded and condemned in his own time, his voice has come to mean many things to many people with political and personal motivation attached to his entire oeuvre. The tragic, the sardonic, the angry, the yearning and the passionate all find a transparent voice in his music and often in a bewildering array of juxtapositions. While it is easy to identify with the emotions presented and draw our own meaning from the music, the vision of the composer is truly private. The act of listening to Shostakovich is to glimpse the inner thoughts of the man and believe we know him.
Such is the Piano Trio in e minor Op.67, written in 1944 shortly after the Leningrad Symphony had been smuggled into the West and performed to instant success. Written on a formal four-movement model, the trio presents Shostakovich at his most individual and is recognized as a turning point in his work towards the more intimate forms of chamber music. Ivan Sollertinsky, his longtime friend and a Jewish music scholar, had recently died in a Nazi concentration camp and the news of “death camps” was spreading like a cloud over the entire world. The meaning of these atrocities shocked the Russian music community and Shostakovich’s reaction to the plight of the Jewish community resonated with his own struggles. The trio is filled with cyclical references to Jewish folk melody and personal motifs such as the now famous DSCH theme based upon his name.
The opening movement builds relentlessly in a gradual crescendo from the opening cello harmonics. It is followed by a biting scherzo, which contrasts humorous melody with a sarcastic dissonance. The tragic third movement, written in an intimate pessimism so commonly associated with the stifled aesthetic outlook described in Testimony, gives way to a finale based on a Jewish folk melody. Swaying violently between buffoonery and anger the work is imbued with a disturbing self-mockery and ends feeling somewhat incomplete – a Mahlerian commentary on the circumstances of his existence and its connection to persecution in all its forms.
Bedrich Smetana (1824 – 1884) - Piano Trio in g minor, Op.15
Moderato assai - Allegro, ma non agitato - Finale
Bedrich Smetena is often credited as the father of Bohemian music. As the pre-eminent Czech musician of his era, Smetana was intimately associated with the nationalist struggle of his country, composing the first operas written in his national language, creating themed orchestral pieces extolling the beauty of his country and even taking part in the 1848 Revolution against Austria.
The Piano Trio in g minor, Op.15, written early in his career in 1855, is sadly one of only a handful of chamber music pieces he composed. Like the two string quartets it has established itself firmly in the repertoire, beloved by audiences and performers alike. The opening violin cadenza brims with Bohemian fire, introducing a movement whose tightly argued themes boil to the surface in a series of passionate climaxes lead by the piano. This highly structured development owes much to Franz Liszt, a champion of nationalist causes throughout Europe and a master of thematic development. Only a few years before Liszt had helped the young Smetana found a piano school, and in 1856, after Smetana took up the baton as a conductor, he followed Liszt by composing a serious of Symphonic tone poems. The influence of Liszt is also clearly heard in the dominant piano writing, at times almost orchestral in size. But one can also clearly discern the influence of Chopin, one of Smetana’s favorite composers, in the delicate piano flourishes.
The second movement Allegro, ma non agitato combines both a scherzo and a slow movement in one rondo style movement. The first theme, played in the cello, introduces a dance-like scherzo that returns in episodes throughout the movement. In between the repetitions of the scherzo, Smetana places an andante and a maestoso section. The pretty andante is lead by the violin with a songlike lilt. The proud maestoso is played by all and has a strong dotted rhythm and declamatory chords that lead us back to the scherzo. The finale, marked presto, returns us immediately to the fire of the first movement with a virtuoso piano that rushes head-long into cross-rhythms and offbeat accents. The cello interjects the furious tarantella with a beautiful melody to calm the proceeding. But despite their efforts the strings can’t hold back the impulsive piano, who pushes the movement to a triumphant ending.
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© Andrew Smith 2004
Sample Program Suggestions
Classical Masters I:
Mozart
Saint-Saëns
- intermission -
Beethoven
Classical Masters II:
Haydn
Beethoven
- intermission -
Schumann—
20th Century:
Panufnik
Nyman
- intermission -
Shostakovich
Piston
Romantic Masters:
Saint-Saëns
Beethoven
- intermission -
Schumann—
20th Century:
Messiaen’s “Quartet for the End of Time”
with Pre-Concert Talk.
Written in a Nazi concentration camp, this great masterpiece of the C20th depicts Messiaen’s religious struggle with the desolation of his circumstance.Romantic Mixture:
Saint-Saëns
Friesen-Carper
- intermission –
Panufnik