20th Century Piano Trios
Highly acclaimed Trio Melbourne presents 20th Century Piano Trios, a collection of rarely heard and newly recorded works that includes first recordings of pieces by Australian composers Peter Sculthorpe and Julian Yu.
Aaron Copland composer
Peter Sculthorpe composer
Dmitri Shostakovich composer
Julian Yu composer
Trio Melbourne made a point of new work and of widening the piano trio repertoire. 20th Century Piano Trios brings together rarely heard trios by Copland and Shostakovich with three previously unrecorded pieces by Sculthorpe, Yu and Baran.
Copland’s seldom played Vitebsk is built on a Jewish folk theme he heard in a play by Ansky.
Shostakovich’s Piano Trio, Op. 8 No. 1, found only in the decade before this 1997 recording, was still little known in the Western piano trio repertoire.
East meets West in Ilhan Baran’s Dönüşümler (Transformations). Folk colour and Western chamber writing meet in a sequence of transformations that draw on Turco-Ottoman modes and rhythmic patterns from different parts of Turkey. Baran called the result “a kind of atmospheric state of mind.”
Julian Yu’s Trio, Op. 26a, written for Trio Melbourne, is heard here in its first recording. Planned as a homage to Brahms and based on the First Symphony, it also takes up the Chinese instrumental folk practice of ornamentation.
Peter Sculthorpe arranged Night Song for the trio from his earlier song The Stars Turn. It closes the programme quietly.
Pianist Roger Heagney, violinist Isin Cakmakcioglu and cellist Rachel Atkinson formed Trio Melbourne in 1993. Each already had a strong career of their own, and by the time of this recording the group had played to critical acclaim in Europe and Australia.
Reviews
We are indeed privileged to find a premier recording of Baran's "Transformations" of such high quality
Three exceptional musicians ... intuitive understanding of the art-form
Sensitive and perfect playing
Passionate and sublime playing.
This is a well performed, beautifully recorded CD with an interesting range of repertoire, some of which has never before been recorded. I'd recommend it highly to chamber music enthusiasts.
Artists
Dmitri Shostakovich
Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich (25 September 1906 – 9 August 1975) was a Soviet Russian composer and one of the most celebrated of the twentieth century, whose symphonies, chamber works and piano music remain central to the repertoire.
Aaron Copland
Aaron Copland wrote the open, slowly shifting harmonies many still hear as the sound of American music. His vernacular style of the 1930s and 1940s gave ballet, song and chamber works a plain-spoken clarity that reaches from folk song to fanfare.
Peter Sculthorpe
Peter Sculthorpe (1929–2014) was a Tasmanian-born composer whose orchestral and chamber music drew the Australian landscape, neighbouring Asian traditions and Indigenous materials into a clear, personal language. He wrote extensively for strings, piano and voice.
Julian Yu
Julian Yu is a multi-award-winning Australian composer whose musical language is imbued with elegance and expressiveness, both enhanced by impeccable craft and a special attention to detail.
Trio Melbourne
Trio Melbourne is an ensemble comprising three outstanding artists - Roger Heagney (piano), Isin Cakmakcioglu (violin) and Rachel Atkinson (cello). It was established in 1993, and since then has performed to great critical acclaim in Australia and Europe.
Audio preview
Tracks
- Moderato–Allegro 10:04
- Andante 3:32
- Vivace 6:21
- Fantasia 2:06
- Transformation I 1:43
- Transformation II 2:09
- Transformation III 3:34
- Transformation IV 1:02
- Transformation V 1:03
- Transformation VI 2:26
- Transformation VII 3:17
- Transformation VIII 3:05
- Lento molto e marcato 5:33
- Allegro vivace 3:02
- Grave 3:29
- Andante–Molto più mosso–Andante 2:39
- Allegro–Più mosso–Adagio 2:02
- Andante–Meno mosso 2:32
- Moderato–Allegro–Prestissimo fantastico 2:06
- Andante 3:27
- Coda: Allegro–Allegro moderato–Allegro 1:51
- Night Song Peter Sculthorpe 7:10
Trio for Violin, Cello and Piano, Op. 26a Julian Yu
Dönüşümler (Transformations) Ilhan Baran
Vitebsk Aaron Copland
Piano Trio, Op. 8 No. 1 Dmitri Shostakovich
Performers
Where to listen
20th Century Piano Trios is available for streaming through Spotify and Apple Music. It can also be purchased through the iTunes Music Store.
20th Century Piano Trios is available as a CD. It can be purchased online through Buywell Music or the Australian Music Centre which both offer online ordering.
Product details
- Catalogue number
- MD 3176
- List price
- $25.00 AUD
- Total playing time
- 74 minutes 13 seconds
- Recording Engineer
- Martin Wright
Vaughan McAlley - Editing Engineer
- Martin Wright
Vaughan McAlley - Venue
- Move Records Studio
- Release date
- 1997
- Musical work
copyright - © 1997 Move Records
- Sound recording
copyright - ℗ 1997 Move Records
- Categories
- Australian, Classical
- Genres
- Contemporary Classical, Modernist Classical
- Barcode
- EAN 9314574317626
Related recordings
Bach to China with Yu
Volume 3 of Julian Yu’s clarinet music, with Robert Schubert and ensemble in arrangements that join Chinese folk melody to Western classical craft.
Night Thoughts
During the long still nights of Melbourne’s Covid lockdowns, pianist Len Vorster listened widely and thought hard about what he heard. Those evening ruminations became this programme of fifteen nocturnes and night pieces, from Schumann’s circle to Copland.
Julian Yu 10 CD Collection
Ten Move CDs of Chinese-Australian composer Julian Yu, spanning chamber, piano and clarinet works written over decades, with Move 50 as a bonus disc.
50 Chinese Folk Songs
The first of two collections on this disc, 50 Chinese Folk Songs, presents Julian Yu’s piano arrangements of well-known Chinese melodies. Fifteen further early piano pieces mix song arrangements with original writing. All 65 tracks are played by Ke Lin.