Ludwig van BEETHOVEN String Trio in D major, Op. 9, No. 2 (1798)
Alyssa Wang, violin; Marcus Thompson, viola; Raman Ramakrishnan, cello
Peter Child Four Movements after Kandinsky for Oboe, Viola, and Piano (2024 BCMS commission)
Peggy Pearson, oboe; Marcus Thompson, viola; Max Levinson, piano
Felix MENDELSSOHN Piano Trio in D minor, Op. 49 (1839)
Alyssa Wang, violin; Raman Ramakrishnan, cello; Max Levinson, piano
Featured musicians
Beethoven’s String Trio in D major opens slowly with a warm, lush sound before the violin takes the lead, guiding the ensemble towards an energetic second theme. Following a stately minor mode Andante, the violin shines again with quick flourishes of notes in the Minuet, while the cello introduces the lively theme of the Rondo finale.
Four Movements after Kandinsky by acclaimed Boston composer Peter Child, who the Boston Musical Intelligencer has praised as “one of the most interesting and heartily youthful composers anywhere in America today,” was inspired by Kandinsky’s earlier works, “their vividness of color and line, the power of their symbolism.”
Proclaimed by Schumann to be the “master trio of the age,” Mendelssohn’s Piano Trio No. 1 in D minor simmers with passionate emotions masterfully contained in classical forms. Tumult and agitation reign through much of the work, delivered with sparkling virtuosity by each player. Respite comes in the tender second movement, a “song without words.”
