St. Luke's Chamber Ensemble Announces Final Concerts of the Season

By: Apr. 04, 2013
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On its final Chamber Music Series concerts of the season, St. Luke's Chamber Ensemble will trace the evolution and diversity of the trio with works of varied instrumentation by Schubert, Brahms, and Bartók. Three Part Inventions will be presented in three concerts taking place at Brooklyn Museum and The Morgan Library & Museum.

"After a wonderful collaboration with pianist Benjamin Hochman last season, St. Luke's Chamber Ensemble members are looking forward to having him join us again on the Three Part Inventions program," says St. Luke's Chamber Ensemble cellist Myron Lutzke. "The strong connection between the musicians on this program is evident in the Schubert, Brahms, and Bartók trio works, which beautifully combine the three voices. We are looking forward to sharing Three Part Inventions with our audiences at the Brooklyn and Morgan museums."

Starting each half of the program are single-movement piano trios by Schubert. The Piano Trio in E-flat Major, "Notturno," conveys a shimmering, subdued atmosphere, with lilting rhythms and unhurried, deliberate harmonic movement. Notturno was completed in 1828, and it is thought that SchuBert May have originally intended it for a full-length piano trio written the same year, D.898. Similarly, when composing the Piano Trio in B-flat Major, "Sonatensatz," SchuBert May have planned additional movements, but only the opening Allegro was completed. Sonatensatz was written in 1812, when Schubert was just 15 years old, but already in this early work, his gift for lyricism and keen treatment of instrumental textures is present.

Bartók's Contrasts for violin, clarinet, and piano incorporates lively Hungarian and Romanian folk dance melodies in the outer movements and an introspective, moody middle movement. Commissioned in 1938 by jazz clarinetist Benny Goodman at the suggestion of violinist Joseph Szigeti, the work showcases the violin and clarinet with virtuosic, jazzy cadenzas for both instruments.

The Brahms Trio for clarinet, cello, and piano in A minor is one of very few works composed for this particular instrumentation; the use of the clarinet-rather than the more standard viola-gives the trio its dark, nostalgic mood. Written late in Brahms' life, in the summer of 1886, it was one of the composer's personal favorites and demonstrates his ability to spin out a wealth of imaginative music from a single idea.



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