Triple Treat from the Edison Trio

On Tuesday evening, April 24, my friend Carolyn and I were enraptured by the beautiful and technically stunning Edison Trio.  The trio consists of Geoffrey Herd, violin, Wesley Baldwin, cello, and Kevin Class, piano–each of whom serves on the faculty of the University of Tennessee-Knoxville.  This ensemble represents some of UT’s finest musicians.

As the final offering of the Episcopal Church of the Ascension’s Friends of Music and the Arts (FOMA) series, the Byzantine beauty of the nave and the excellent acoustics provided the perfect venue for such a concert.  The only downside to the evening was when the music had to end!  Knoxville should take notice of this relatively new trio and be sure to attend their future concerts.

Three pieces (modern, contemporary and Romantic) thrilled us:

Joaquín Turina (1882-1949). Piano Trio No 2 in B Minor, Op 76 (1933)

I was not familiar with Turina, but I learned later that there was no Spanish composer who devoted more energy to chamber music.  Although he spent only his student days (1905-1914) in Paris and spent the rest of his life in Spain, his chamber music is heavily influenced by French masters such as Debussy and Ravel.  The French emphasis on melody and beauty of surface and texture carries into this handsome, short Piano Trio, which uses the “cyclic” technique used by Franck and other French composers.  Consistent with French impressionism, the composer’s working title for the work was originally “Three Nocturnes.” The exquisite first movement themes are stated, elaborated, stated again, but not subjected to the torment of development.  The second movement is in a Spanish-inflected 5/8 meter, has chunky, modal chords for the piano with the two strings scurrying over it – like a glimpse into a tavern full of dancers, it is there and gone.  The finale has shifting moods, opening with the cello and some warning dark chords on the piano, with the main theme stated again at triple speed.  It was masterfully played by this trio.

John Musto (b. 1954). Piano Trio (1998)

Another composer who was new to me was John Musto.  Musto is a contemporary American composer and pianist.  As a composer, he is active in opera, orchestral and chamber music, song, vocal ensemble, and solo piano works.  As a pianist, he performs frequently as a soloist, alone and with orchestra, as a chamber musician, and with singers.  His Piano Trio was greatly influenced by 20th Century American composers such as George Gershwin and Aaron Copland.  The rhythmic energy of this piece kept us on the edge of our seats throughout.  This was a piece for which “moderato” was a misnomer, as its tempo surpassed that and then some!  The harmonic and rhythmic complexities, not to mention the tempi, required virtuosic skill, and the Edison Trio presented that in large measure.

Johannes Brahms (1833-1897). Piano Trio No. 1 in B Major, Op. 8

Brahms is one of my favorite composers, especially of orchestral and piano works.  This piano trio was completed in January 1854, when the composer was only twenty years old, published in November 1854 and premiered on 13 October 1855 in Danzig.  It has often been mistakenly claimed that the first performance had taken place in the United States. Brahms produced a revised version of the work in summer 1889 that shows significant alterations so that it may even be regarded as a distinct piano trio. This “New Edition”, as he called it, was premiered on 10 January 1890 in Budapest and published in February 1891.  Living in the shadow of Beethoven as he did, Brahms was always revising!    Perhaps an “old war horse” of the chamber music literature, the Edison Trio breathed new life into the beast.

There is nothing that lifts my spirits as much as listening to a beautifully and sensitively played live concert.  We were thrice uplifted on Tuesday night!