The Phaeton Piano Trio – a German outfit consisting of Friedemann Eichhorn (violin), Peter Hörr (cello) and Florian Uhlig (piano) – are to perform Space Jump, Opus 46, by Fazıl Say – a work inspired by Felix Baumgartner’s jump to earth from the stratosphere in a helium balloon in 2012; the Piano Trio No 1 in D minor, Opus 49, by Mendelssohn; and the Piano Trio No 4 in E minor, Opus 90 (the ‘Dumky’ trio) by Dvořák.
Mendelssohn’s 1839 Piano Trio No 1 in D minor is one of his most popular chamber works. The original version was subsequently revised by the composer to give it a more Romantic style and a more prominent piano part. Dvořák’s Piano Trio No 4 in E minor, Opus 90, completed in 1891, is likewise one of the composer’s best-loved works. The sub-title ‘Dumky’ (the plural form of ‘Dumka’) is a Ukrainian term used to describe a Slavic epic ballad in which brooding, introspective sections are suddenly interrupted by cheerful, livelier ones. In fact, each of the six movements in Dvořák’s Piano Trio No 4 is in the form of a dumka.
Issue 67, December 2024
Beauty in the Wilderness
