Sitkovetsky Trio – Program Notes

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827)
Trio in D Major, Op. 70, No. 1 (“Ghost”)

1. Allegro vivace e con brio
2. Largo assai ed espressivo
3. Presto

Cécile Chaminade (1857–1944)
Trio No. 2 in A minor, Op. 34

1. Allegro moderato
2. Lento
3. Allegro energico

Johannes Brahms (1833–1897)
Piano Trio No. 2 in C Major, Op. 87

1. Allegro moderato
2. Andante con moto
3. Scherzo
4. Allegro giocoso

PROGRAMME NOTES

by Susan Jacobs

Beethoven:Trio in D Major, Op. 70, No. 1 (1808)

Beethoven spent the spring and summer of 1808 in Vienna at the home of Countess von Erdödy, to whom he dedicated the work. Despite his progressive hearing loss and lack of income at this time, this period was remarkably productive; he completed the two piano trios comprising Op 70, and Symphonies No. 5 and 7, works that are characterized as of his “Middle Period.” The nickname, “The Ghost,” is attributed to his pupil Carl Czerny for whom the second movement evoked “ghastly awful” images of the ghost in Shakespeare’s Hamlet.

The significance of this middle movement is highlighted by the brevity of the two outside movements. The work opens with a fast-paced melody played by all three instruments in unison, immediately followed by a lyrical melody on the cello. It concludes with a return to the unison motive. The remarkable “ghostly” middle movement opens with eerie sotto voce motives played first by the strings, then by the piano. These are repeated throughout the movements accompanied by ghostly tremolo chords on the piano, intermittent pauses, and startling outbursts. The concluding movement, in sonata form, furnishes a short, and dare we say cheerful, conclusion to this remarkable composition.

Chaminade: Trio No. 2  in A minor, Op. 34 (1887)

Chaminade was born and raised in Paris. She demonstrated remarkable musical talent from a young age, such that it was recommended that she study at the Conservatoire. However, her father deemed this to be inappropriate for a girl of their social class, although he did permit her to take private lessons from the Conservatoire teachers. In 1878, she gave a salon performance of her own works, thus launching a prestigious career both as a composer and a pianist. She was the first woman to receive the Légion d’Honneur, and was so favored by Queen Victoria that her Prelude for organ was played at the Queen’s funeral in 1901. Although her music was well received throughout Europe and the US, it fell into obscurity after her death due, one must suspect, to a certain wilful ignorance of the music of women composers. There has more recently been a resurgence of interest in such music.

Chaminade’s music is deeply connected with both the Romantic and French tradition. The first movement is dominated by austere scale passages, highlighted by the piano’s rendition first in the soprano register, and subsequently in the bass, with tremolo and triplet accompaniment by the strings. The middle movement, Lento, features a beautiful lyrical theme, also based on an ascending scale motif. The final movement is complex and robust – a study of varied themes and textures presented by the three instruments, sometimes in unison and sometimes in contrastive roles. A coda brings this remarkable work to a conclusion.  

Brahms: Piano Trio No. 2 in C Major, Op. 87 (1882)

Born in Hamburg, Brahms received his early musical training from his father. He had a close friendship with the Schumanns that continued even after Robert’s untimely suicide. In 1880, he composed the Allegro movements for two new piano trios, one in C major and the other in E flat major. When, two years later he returned to them, he decided to complete only the trio in C Major. This, despite the fact that his friend and confidant Clara Schumann had expressed a preference for the E flat major trio. However, Brahms himself expressed great satisfaction with this work, writing to his publisher that, “You have not so far had such a beautiful trio from me and very probably have not published one to match it in the last ten years.” The work opens with the strings playing a triple meter melody in unison an octave apart. The piano joins in, but accenting every other beat such that the strings are playing in counts of three against the piano’s double beat. The movement concludes with a coda and a restatement of the opening theme. The second movement, in the key of A minor, comprises a theme and five variations inspired by the style of Hungarian gypsy music, and featuring frequent syncopated rhythms. The third movement, a Scherzo again in the minor key, features a rhythmically complex first refrain, followed by a more lyrical second melody. It concludes with a return to the initial rather tense theme. The final movement returns to the C major key and is labelled giocoso (playful). It is characterized by four contrasting themes with an extended coda, music that again inspires associations with Hungarian folk music.