LONDON ARTISTS
presents
BEAUX ARTS TRIO
0
GREATER LONDON COUNCIL
IIUEEN ELIZABETH HALL
Director: George Mann, O.B.E.
Programme 20p
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THE
BEAUX ARTS TRIO
HAY ON
DVORAK
BRAHMS
Piano Trio in C major Hob. XV No. 27
Allegro
Andante
Presto
Piano Trio in E minor Op. 90 ('Dumky')
Lento maestoso- allegro quasi doppio movimento
Poco adagio - vivace non troppo
Andante- vivace nun troppo
Andante moderato -allegretto scherzando
Aliegro
Lento maestoso - vivace
INTERVAL
Piano Trio in C major Op. 87
Allegro
Andante con moto
Scherzo: presto
Finale: allegro giocoso
Wednesday 25 January 1978 at 7.45 p.m.
This is the first of a series of recitals given by the Beaux Arts Trio. They
will also be appearing at the Queen Elizabeth Hall on January 29 at 3 p.m.and
January 31 at Z45 p.m.
IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE GLC AND OTHER
COUNCILS . Persons shall not be permitted to stand or sit in any of the gangways intersecting
the sea·ting or to sit in any of the other gangways.
The taking of photographs in the auditorium is not permitted. No smoking in the auditorium.
it is illegal to record any performance or part thereof unless prior arrangements
have been made with the Director and concert promoter concerned . Members of the
public are reminded that no tape recorder or other type of recording apparatus may be
brought into the auditorium.
PROGRAMME NOTES
by
PETER MANSFIELD
(Author's Copyright)
Piano Trio in C major, Hob. XV No. 27 (1795) HAY ON
Although it is not the form most immediately associated with his name, Haydn
achieved as much with the piano trio as with the symphony or quartet. Even the
earliest examples (1760-84) which were strongly influenced by C.P.E. Bach and
in which there is little independent work for the cello, Haydn nonetheless created
a real trio texture with the cello part not merely an optional extra. In the later
works for the medium (1784-97) Haydn started thinking much more seriously
about its possibilities (not only with technical innovations such as increasing the
prominence of the cello) and undoubtably created for it some of his finest music.
In the C major Piano Trio Haydn displays his total mastery of the trio medium
with a piece that is on a par with the finest of his quartets. Particularly striking is
the play of various part combinations to create an infinite range of possible textures.
The opening allegro is an extended sonata movement in which he prevents the
second theme from becoming trivial by judicious modulations and greater than
normal interest in the accompanying part movement. The development is remarkably
extensive and imaginative, the reprise tactfully abbreviated 'Beethoven-fashion'
to make room for an equally impressive coda. As in the Trio in G major, No. 25, the
key chosen for the central andante movement is the simultaneously close and remote
mediant major. Giving the cue for so many of Beethoven's aria movements, the
major part of this one is its minor key middle section which moves by mysteriously
strange chromatic paths and perfectly balanced logic. Not unlike a cold plunge after
the luxuriant warmth of the andante, the final presto is brilliant in every sense, full
of wit and surprises. As so often, Haydn gives an object lesson in sustaining interest
and invention from the barest minimum of material.
Piano Trio in E minor, Op. 90 DVORAK
The piano trios of Antonin Dvorak resemble those of Josef Haydn in their leaning
towards Hungarian folk music and their use of unorthodox variation form as an
alternative to sonata structure. Particularly noticeable also are the dual influences
of Brahms, Dvorak's friend, and supporter, and Schubert, whose chamber and
orchestral works he recognised and championed at a time when they were neither
profitable nor popular.
The Dumky for Piano Tri.o (Op. 90) were composed between the November
of 1890 and February of 1891, a time of great creative energy after the Eighth
J
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Symphony and the Requiem Mass. The word 'dumka' has connections with a kind
of heroic ballad and this gives the tone to the rhetorical, brooding passages. Dvorak
combined ideas from various folk models (slow-fast tem.po changes from one and
polka-like rhythms from another), distilling from many influences an essence quite
new in form. There is no formal connection between the six movements (in E
minor, C sharp minor, A major, D minor, Eb major and C minor) and they form a
group rather than a suite. Perhaps the nearest comparison is the smaller-scale
'Moments Musicales' of Schubert; pieces linked not by a formal structure but by
the state of the mind that created them.
INTERVAL
A warning gong will be sounded for five minutes before the end of the interval
Piano Trio in C, Op. 87 (1882) BRAHMS
Johannes Brahms (1833- 97) wrote three piano trios as well as trios for horn or
clarinet, cello and piano. Another trio, in A major, was published in Brahms' name
though it is still disputed and there seems also to have been earli er pieces which
he destroyed.
The first movement of the Op. 87 Trio (allegro) was written in March 1880
although the remaining movements were not added for another two years. The
·opening theme is reminiscent of Beethoven (e.g. the later cello sonatas) and it is
not accidental that it is used in a very Beethovenish way to merely mark the
commencement of sections and the end. lt is developed only in transformations
and most of the expositional work is done through a number of subsidiary themes.
Considering the amount of material used the writing is remarkably unhurried and
even spacious; nowhere more so than in the deceptively casual transition to the very
beautiful second theme. The second movement (andante con moto) carries a debt
not only to the spirit of Beethoven but even more to that of Schubert. The form of
the movement is a kind of variation rondo, where the second and fourth of the
variations are less dependent on the theme than the others. An interesting feature
of the coda is the elongated penultimate bar; a kind of written-in rallentando. The
nearest to virtuoso writing to be found in Brahms' chamber music is in the scherzo
(presto) movement, a spectural study in the lightest possible textures and constructed
almost as a perpetuum mobile. Clara Schumann thought the trio "not
imposing enough" though many have disagreed. The curious theme of the finale
(allegro giocoso) has some affinities with Hungarian folk music with its irregular
structure and furious rhythmic accompaniment. If it is rather lightweight, it counterbalances
admirably the profundity of the earlier music.
© Peter Mansfield 1978
THE BEAUX ARTS TRIO
Since their first public performance in 1957 at the Berkshire Music Festival in the
United States, the Beaux Arts Trio df New York have carved out an international
reputation as one of the very greatest chamber music ensembles in the world. Their
records for Philips are at the top of every classical best-selling list and have won
both the Grand Prix du Disque and the Deutscher Schallplattenpreis.
Charles Munch said that the Beaux Arts were "worthy successors to the great Trio
of Thibaud, Casals and Cortot" and Toscanini compared their playing to that of the
pre-war trio performances of Rubinstein, Heifetz and Feuermann.
This high praise has been echoed again and again at the Trio's many performances in
North America, Europe and the Middle East. lt seems to be the unanimous judgement
of critics everywhere that these are musicians of the very highest calibre. As
the Montreal "Star" music writer explained, "Their secret lies in their virtuosity,
expert co-ordination, unspoken communication and musical insight. They are three
quite individual musicians who have learned to defer to each other to create a single
personality for the ensemble".
Menahem Pressler, the pianist, was taken to Israel from Germany by his parents
when Hitler came to power. He has started his musical studies in MagdeburQ and so
took up his professional career in his adopted country. He became internationally
known when he won the Claude Debussy Prize at the age of 17. That also earned
him five appearances with the Philadelphia Orchestra, which in turn brought him an
unprecedented three year contract for appearances each season with that worldfamous
Orchestra.
He has appeared as soloist with leading orchestras and conductors all over the world
and now makes his home in Bloomington, Indiana, where he is professor at the
University of Indiana.
Bernard Greenhouse, the Trio's cellist, was a fellowship student at Juilliard but
went to Europe for an audition with Pablo Casals, which turned into two years of
study with the great master. After completing his studies, Greenhouse established a
fine reputation in recitals and concerts throughout most of the great music centres
of Europe and the United States. He is a renowned teacher and is on the faculties of
the Manhattan School of Music, New York State University and the University of
Hartford. He plays the famous"Paganinni"Stradivarious cello which is dated 1707.
lsidore Cohen, violin, was born in New York and studied at Juilliard under lvan
Gala m ian. He was leader of the Little Orchestra Society of New York and has been
leader with many other orchestral ensembles including the Casals Festival in Puerto
Rico and the Mozart Festival in New York's Lincoln Centre. His extensive chamber
music background includes guest appearances with the Budapest Quartet and in the
important American series "Music from Marlboro". --
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BEAUX ARTS TRIO
have on catalogue
HAYDN
PIANO TRIOS, Hob. XV
Nos. 5, 10, and 11
9500 327
part of their continuing complete
cycle of Haydn Piano Trios
·BRAHMS
PIANO TRIOS, complete
SAL 3627/ 8
DV ORAl<
PIANO TRIOS
No. 1 in B flat ,Op 21
No. 2 in G minor.Op 26
802 916 LY
No. 4 in E minor,Op 90.'Dumky'
802 918 LY
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