Piano Trio

Piano Trio is an epic four movement work combining austere minimalism with emotional romanticism and dramatic narrative. Movement 1: A slow, ponderous opening gives way to feverishly undulating figures in the piano under sighing melodies in the violin and cello. A buildup culminates in oozingly descending piano chords, sinking down into a subdued return of the opening sonority. Movement 2: The slow opening melody of the first movement is transformed into a demonic Shostakovichian scherzo. A wispy, ethereal dream in the middle gives way to hammering chords that drive to the movement’s end. Movement 3: A lyrical repose, with soaring melodies in the violin and cello over undulating, sinking chords in the piano. Movement 4: A wide-ranging journey, beginning with airy note-against-note counterpoint in the strings, moving through aggressive marches, a furious gypsy hoedown, lyrically soaring scales, and a final slithering descent toward the work’s opening sonority. We end where we began, with soft, ponderous piano chords – but the chords are voiced differently, slightly more brightly and hopefully, and the residue of the fourth movement’s themes hangs questioningly in the strings.