Refined Entertainment
Mozart completed his Piano Trio in B-flat Major, KV 502, in Vienna in November 1786. It probably first sounded in a private aristocratic circle. In those years, chamber music with piano was popular among both professional musicians and gifted amateurs. The genre emerged from the "accompanied keyboard sonata": the piano was central, while violin and cello mainly provided support. Mozart changes that relationship; the piano remains important, but violin and cello gain a clearer role in the musical conversation. In the opening movement (Allegro), an elegant exchange between piano and strings sounds forth: the piano introduces the theme, short responses from the strings follow, alternating with virtuosic passages in the piano. In the second, slow movement, a beautifully subtle interplay between the piano and violin unfolds, with the cello blending in with a warm counter-voice. The finale, an Allegretto in rondo form, is light-footed and witty. The recurring theme is sparkling and playful. And each time it returns, it is differently illuminated—a new key, a surprising turn, or an unexpected silence. In this movement too, a virtuosic exchange between piano, cello, and violin sounds forth.
Mosaic
In Ackermusik, Theo Loevendie lets the familiar piano trio sound as if it has temporarily changed continents. Piano, violin, and cello do not move through a classical narrative as we are accustomed to in European classical music, but through a mosaic: five recognizable elements return repeatedly, each time differently illuminated, with the note D as a pivot point, as a kind of fundamental tone. We hear no traditional beginning-middle-end, but a series of shifting musical "panels," in which rhythm and color determine direction. Loevendie has a great fondness for jazz and non-Western musical instruments, and from that perspective he constantly plays with a rich world of sonic associations. The three instruments do not play a fixed role of melody, accompaniment, and bass, but rather, so to speak, as mobile partners that jostle, imitate, and contradict one another.
Theo Loevendie wrote Ackermusik in 1997; the work owes its title to the commissioners of the Hitzacker Musiktage that year.
A Diptych
D'un soir triste belongs to the last works of Lili Boulanger, written in 1917-1918, shortly before her early death at just 24 years old. The title literally means "of a sad evening," but the music is more than a simple elegy. Boulanger creates a dark, tense atmosphere in which mourning, unrest, and inner strength continually intermingle. The work exists in different versions, including one for piano trio and one for orchestra. In the trio version, violin, cello, and piano each take on a clear dramatic role. The piano often sounds a heavy, harmonic foundation, while the strings draw long, searching lines. The music moves slowly but inexorably forward; silence and outburst lie ever close together. D'un matin de printemps is often mentioned alongside D'un soir triste. Both works are related in material but have a different course: D'un soir triste is slow and heavy in tone, while D'un matin de printemps moves, shifts, and presses forward. The title means "of a spring morning," but the freshness of this music is not naive. Boulanger writes with a nervous undertone: mobile and full of sudden changes. The piece exists in different versions, including violin and piano, flute and piano, piano trio, and orchestra. In the trio version, a beautiful transparent interplay emerges between the three instruments. The piano propels the music forward with sparkling figures and rhythmic impulses, while violin and cello add short gestures, singing lines, and sharp accents. Everything seems continuously in motion. Her famous sister, Nadia Boulanger, the composition pedagogue, played an important role in preserving and transmitting Lili's legacy.
