Repertoire

The ‘Alchemy Project’ includes the following works:

• Ludwig van Beethoven – Piano Trio Op 1 No 1 in E flat major
• Ludwig van Beethoven – Piano Trio Op 70 No 2 in E flat major
• Robert Schumann – Fantasiestücke Op.88
• Bedrich Smetana – Piano Trio Op 15 in G minor
• Anton Dvorák – Piano Trio Op 65 in F minor
• Claude Debussy – Piano Trio in G major
• Claude Debussy – Sonata for Cello and Piano in D minor
• Claude Debussy – Sonata for Violin and Piano in G minor
• Maurice Ravel – Piano Trio
• Dimitri Shostakovitch – Piano Trio Op 67 in E minor
• Henry Cowell – Trio in Nine Short Movements
• Peter Fribbins – ‘…that which echoes in eternity’ for Cello and Piano
• Peter Fribbins – Piano Trio (2004)

PROGRAMME NOTES by MINE Doğantan-DACK

Schumann - Fantasiestücke Op.88

Robert Schumann (1810-1856) composed his Fantasiestücke Op.88 in 1842, during an extraordinarily creative period, which also gave birth to three string quartets, the piano quintet and the piano quartet. The work, which Schumann himself described as 'delicate', consists of four pieces.

1. Romanze: Nicht schnell, mit innigem Ausdruck
Evocation of wordless narratives is a hallmark of Schumann's music. This serene opening, based on a folk tune, functions as a perfect introduction to the musical stories that will unfold in the following pieces. It is the Schumannesque equivalent of 'once upon a time'.

2. Humoreske: Lebhaft
That Schumann conceived of these four pieces as a unified work, to be performed together, is evident from the fact the main theme of the Romanze reappears in the middle section of the Humoreske. Conceived in the manner of a scherzo, the piece invites the listener to imagine swift changes of scenery. Alternating moods, typical of Schumann's music, structure the piece.

3. Duett: Langsam, und mit Ausdruck
An intimate, lyrical duet for the violin and cello unfolds against the rippling accompaniment of the piano. One of the important decisions the performers need to make is whether to allow this most Romantic music to simply speak for itself without much personal intervention, or to further romanticize it with additional intensity of performance expression.

4. Finale: Im Marsch-Tempo
In this affirmative piece, the predominantly chordal texture is interspersed by contrapuntal writing, and the title 'Finale' once again indicates the wholeness and unity of compositional conception behind the four pieces. The coda, where the piano and the strings play the choral melody in syncopation, creates a sonority that is reminiscent of the organ.

Debussy - Piano Trio in G

It is always fascinating to note the kind of music a great composer wrote in his early youth. Claude Debussy (1862-1918) was only eighteen when he composed his Piano Trio in G. It was written in the summer of 1880, when the young composer was employed by Tchaikovsky's patroness Nadezhda von Meck as her children's piano instructor. A letter she wrote to Tchaikovsky that year speaks of this 'very beautiful trio', which for a long time was believed to have been lost. In the mid-1980s, the manuscripts appeared in an auction, and the American musicologist Ellwood Derr reconstructed the missing parts in the Finale. The work was published in 1986. Since then, it has become a standard part of the piano trio repertoire. Debussy's Piano Trio in G has four movements:

The first movement, Andantino con moto allegro, involves music of an elusive character with many internal closures. As the manuscript did not indicate the precise meaning of the expression marks in the different sections of the movement, it is not clear whether these are to be regarded as implying tempo changes; consequently, the performers have much freedom in shaping the tempo outline of the movement. In our interpretation, we take the 'un poco rallentando' marking at the beginning of the middle section of this movement as a new tempo rather than as a momentary ritardando. And we take care to close the movement without any ritardando so as to let this elusive music disappear into nothingness.

The second movement titled Scherzo – Intermezzo, involves whimsical fairy music. It features charming gestures that go around the three instruments, and are at times reminiscent of Mendelssohn's incidental music A Midsummer Night's Dream. The third movement, Andante espressivo, is the slow movement of the work, with its lyrical melody passing on from the cello to the violin at the beginning, and transformed into a romantic outpouring for the piano in the middle section, which builds up to an expressive climax before the main melody returns softly in the violin.  As the manuscript is unclear regarding the register of the piano part in the last four measures, we have chosen to perform it an octave higher than written in the 1986 edition, as we think this balances the registers of the strings and opens up the final registral space in the piano part more expressively, and allows the final chord to take on a shimmering timbre, perhaps befitting the G-ness of the movement. The fourth movement, Finale – Appassionato, has a passionate, surging melody that appears in various dynamics, ranging from a sonorous piano at the beginningto a powerful fortissimo at the end.

Fribbins - '…that which echoes in eternity'

British composer Peter Fribbins (b.1969), recognized as 'one of the outstanding composers of his generation', frequently finds musical inspiration in literary sources, and his music is a passionate expression of musical tradition in a personal language. In his own words: " No doubt there are plenty of modernist features in my music: however at the same time I am drawn to the sense, logic and formal satisfaction to be gained through traditional structural gestures, shapes and forms". "…that which echoes in eternity", composed in 2002-03, is inspired by Dante's Inferno from the Divine Comedy, in particular by the powerful images the following lines from Canto VI evoke: "He wakes no more till the sounding of the angel's trumpet, when the adverse Judge shall come; each shall find again the sad tomb and take again his flesh and form and hear that which echoes in eternity". The metric regularity gives the feeling of a relentless eternity to the work, while the rhythmic freedom of the melodic gestures create a wonderful tension against such regularity. The music appears to emerge from eternity, gives us a glimpse of the drama that unfolds in the turbulent Inferno, and dissolves into a calm timelessness.

Beethoven - Piano Trio Op.70 No.2 in E Flat

Beethoven's Piano Trio Op. 70 No. 2 is an extraordinary and forward-looking creation. It was composed in 1808, when Beethoven was also working on the 5th and 6th symphonies. It is, however, neglected compared to its companion, Op. 70 No. 1 'the Ghost'. If the number of commercially available recordings is any indication, it is also the least performed. While 'the Ghost' is available in 28 different interpretations, and the 'Archduke' in 30, Op.70 No.1 is available only in 11 different interpretations. As performers, we are deeply fascinated by this piece, and have a special affection for it. We are struck by its strange beauty, by its daring, yet gentle and delicate language. This work consist of four movements:

Poco sostenuto – Allegro ma non troppo.  The slow introduction is linked to the second theme group of the following Allegro, and returns to close the movement. The Allegro introduces adventurous harmonic progressions, and the return of the first theme group or the recapitulation is achieved by what musicologist Tovey has described as "perhaps the most unexpected return in all music."

The second movement, Allegretto, is structured around two themes respectively in C minor and C major, which are developed through variations. The musical gestures are so thoroughly original that at times one is left wondering if s/he can believe what s/he hears.

The third movement, Allegretto ma non troppo, begins with a gentle, lyrical melody, which involves an unusual dynamic marking, i.e. a long crescendo followed by a very short diminuendo. Harmonic novelties continue to arrest the listener as the movement unfolds.

The fourth movement, Finale – Allegro, is in sonata-form, and one of the important expressive devices is the sudden dynamic shifts from forte to piano.

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