Music Chamber

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)   Trio in B flat major, Op 11, “Gassenhauer”

Allegro con brio ~ Adagio ~ Tema con variazioni: Pria ch’io l’impegno. Allegretto 

 

This trio was composed in 1797, a few years after Beethoven settled in Vienna, and gained the nickname Gassenhauer (‘popular song’) from its set of variations on Pria ch’io l’impegno from Weigl’s comic opera Il Corsaro. It was originally scored for clarinet, cello and piano and published in 1798 with minor alterations and with the violin replacing the clarinet. The work is dedicated to Countess Maria Wihelmine von Thun.The opening Allegro con brio is a sunny movement in sonata form in which Beethoven plays tricks with the tonality. After the usual modulation to the dominant F major which leads to the second subject we find ourselves instead in D major. This disperses and we eventually find the piano appearing with the second subject in the correct key. Beethoven does not repeat the joke in the recapitulation! The second movement by contrast is a much more serious affair, also in sonata form and this is followed by a sparkling final variation movement full of invention. The first variation features the piano, which is also used to dramatic effect in linking a quieter fourth variation in the tonic minor with a more robust fifth variation. The tonic minor features again when Beethoven builds a forceful seventh variation from rhythmic fragments of the theme and the ninth and final variation is followed by a substantial code which ends the work. © Christine Talbot-Cooper 2012

 

Bedrich Smetana (1824-1884)    Piano Trio in G minor, Op 15

Moderato assai ~ Allegro, ma non agitato, with Alternativo I and II ~ Presto

 

This trio is an elegiac work which was prompted by the death from scarlet fever of Smetana’s elder daughter in the summer of 1855. In his catalogue of works Smetana writes that it is “written in memory of my first child, Bedriska, who enchanted us with her extraordinary musical talent, and yet was snatched away from us by death, aged four-and-a–half years.” The work was written in the autumn of 1855 and received its first performance in Prague in December of that year. It is unusual to find all three movements of a work in a quick tempo and in the tonic key, and this, together with the fact that the final movement is a re-working of an early piano sonata which had been discarded, may suggest that the composition of this work had been hurried. Prominent throughout the work is a motto theme based on a chromatic descending scale which appears in various guises throughout the work. This is introduced by the violin then joined by the cello, which goes on to introduce a further theme but this time in the major key. The development section is a passionate fortissimo which gradually subsides and the piano leads the way into the recapitulation with the solo violin theme. The motto theme can be traced again in the second movement which has a dance-like quality based on a polka. This is a scherzo in all but name, with two slower trios. In the final movement the piano is somewhat dominant – reflecting the original piano sonata.  Again the movement is based on a dance form, the skocna, and features fast two-against-three rhythms, with contrast provided by a poignant slower theme introduced by the cello in the unusual key of A flat major. This becomes a funeral march which leads to a coda which brings the work to a triumphant close. © Christine Talbot-Cooper 2012

 

Panaretos Kyriatzidis was born in Thessaloniki and by 2006 had achieved degrees in Harmony, Counterpoint and Fugue at the local conservatory. Panaretos also gained a piano degree, then diploma in 2009. In October 2007 Panaretos gained second prize in the “4th National Competition for Young Pianists” playing Greek composers and in December 2008 he participated in a “concert in Memoriam” in Sofia, for Alexander Tanev. Panaretos is currently a postgraduate student at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance studying a Masters programme in piano performance. Manuel Arellano Bover studied at the Conservatorio Superior de Música de Badajoz where he graduated in violin performance in 2011 with a first class degree. He has been a member of the Joven Orquesta de la Comunidad de Madrid, Orquesta Joven de Extremadura, and a member of the chamber and symphony orchestras of the Conservatoire of Badajoz. He attended the Yehudi Menuhin School. Currently Manuel holds the Gladys Bratton Scholarship at Trinity. Miriam Wakeling won a music scholarship to King’s College, Taunton where she frequently performed in Taunton’s Music & Drama festival and went on European tours with The Somerset County Youth Orchestra and performed frequently with the Taunton Sinfonietta. Miriam gained a scholarship to study at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, after which she worked as a session musician for Cardiff Sinfonietta, Cardiff Camerata and The Pikkeywn Piano Trio. In September 2011 She began a Masters in Performance at Trinity as a Ludwig Lebell Scholar.