Archduke Trio - Chamber Music - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

By 1882, Foote was ready to tackle an extended essay in the chamber music medium. The result was the Trio in C Minor for Piano, Violin and Cello, Op 5. Using similar works by Mendelssohn and Schumann as his point of departure, Foote determined to make his Piano Trio the work that would establish his artistic reputation. Composed swiftly and premiered on 8th April, 1882, the composer withdrew the piece for further revision. While on vacation in France in 1883, the trio was overhauled, simplifying many of the piano textures and was published in it's final version in 1884. The opening Allegro con brio, in an orthodox sonata form, features a melancholy melody on the violin, later taken up by the cello, the piano providing a song-like accompaniment. A hymn-like second theme is stated confidently in the piano. The development section follows and immediately begins to combine to the two primary themes in numerous ways, often simultaneously. The recapitulation follows, with an expanded version of the opening theme, building in expressive power. The second theme returns, providing a noble contrast and the movement ends with an emphatic statement of the opening melody. The second movement displays a Mendelssohnian influence, with scurrying string writing over a wide-ranging piano part. The trio (Un poco meno allegro) returns to the hymn-like mood of the second theme of the first movement. A return to the opening material, slightly expanded, leads to the coda, with the violin and cello playing pizzicato in a breathless passage. The Adagio molto is undoubtedly the trio's lyrical core. A lilting melody begins in the cello, joined by the violin while the piano provides gentle figurations. Suddenly, the music shifts in F minor, and the music turns dramatic. The piano introduces a new theme that is combined with the lyrical melody from the first section to provide the movement's clim

British composer Michael Head (1900-1976) initially studied piano with Jean Adair, a student of famous Clara Schumann, and vocal performance with Fritz Marston. It was only in 1919 that he began studying composition in the class of Prof. Frederick Corder after he had been admitted to the Royal Academy of Music in London as a Sir Michael Costa scholarship holder. After completing his education, Head lectured at that university for many years. Peter Hope, born in 1930, is another representative of the British school of composers on the present album, also known under the pseudonym William Gardner. He gained fame as an outstanding arranger (he worked with the BBC Concert Orchestra on a number of occasions and orchestrated pieces by composers linked to the American film industry, e.g. John Williams, James Horner, or Laurence Rosenthal). Despite the fact that he has dealt mainly with arrangements and transcriptions throughout his career, his compositional output can be considered impressive. André Previn (1929-2019), an American artist, is mainly associated as a world-famous conductor, pianist, and promoter of outstanding violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter. In this context, his compositional out-put seems to be unjustly forgotten. An international composer, Daniel Baldwin's music has been performed around the globe in Canada, Italy, Germany, Japan, China, Belgium, and Australia, just to name a few. His music is published exclusively by Imagine Music Publishing, through which he is the editor of a band/orchestra/choir series titled InchThe Pathways SeriesInch.

Arden Trio - Trios [COMPACT DISCS] date 12/11/1992