GOULD TRIO: MENDELSSOHN The Piano Trios | Works for & Piano FOREWORD

Mendelssohn’s cultural inheritance was the great Classical repertoire that he imbibed as a child. In the two masterly Piano Trios and his Variations concertantes he adapts those former principles of structure and form to his own inimitable musical personality, seamlessly linking the sections that make an organic whole. Never content with mere repetition, Mendelssohn continuously reinvents his initial inspirations even in such a priceless cello miniature as the Romance sans paroles or the unfinished Albumblatt of 1835. The mature Trios, Op.49 and Op.66, provide ample truth of this composer’s artistic development from prodigy to grand master. From the youthful experience of studying the Mendelssohn D minor in Banff with Menahem Pressler of Beaux Arts fame, it is very exciting for us to record both the trios with the added perspective of longer acquaintance. Even though only a record of one moment in time, we hope these performances can represent a progression of thought and emotional reaction to these immortal piano trios.

Benjamin Frith TRACK LISTING

FELIX MENDELSSOHN (1809 –1847)

PIANO TRIO NO.1 IN D MINOR OP.49 PIANO TRIO NO.2 IN C MINOR OP.66 1 Molto allegro agitato 09’17 6 Allegro energico e con fuoco 10’47 2 Andante con moto tranquillo 06’19 7 Andante espressivo 06’39 3 Scherzo 03’41 8 Scherzo 03’33 4 Finale 08’35 9 Finale 07’34

5 VARIATIONS CONCERTANTES FOR CELLO & PIANO IN D MAJOR OP.17 09’10 10 ALBUMBLATT FOR PIANO IN E MINOR OP.117 02’01 Thema: Andante con moto 11 SONG WITHOUT WORDS FOR CELLO & PIANO IN D MAJOR OP.109 04’54 Variation I Variation II Variation III. Più vivace Total playing time: 72’33 Variation IV. Allegro con fuoco Variation V. L’istesso tempo Variation VI. L’istesso tempo Variation VII. Presto ed agitato Variation VIII. Tempo I Tracks 1 –4, 6 –9 Produced & engineered by Andrew Mellor, edited by Claire Hay recorded 28th –30th November 2012 Tracks 5, 10, 11 Produced by Matthew Bennett, engineered & edited by Dave Rowell recorded 8th April 2013 All tracks recorded in the Music Room, Champs Hill, West Sussex, UK Executive Producer for Champs Hill Records: Alexander Van Ingen Label Manager for Champs Hill Records: John Dickinson MENDELSSOHN TRIOS

During the eighteenth century, Leipzig became known as ‘little Paris’ for the Robert Schumann’s review of the published score declared the work to be the bustle of its commerce and openness to new ideas. The civic authorities installed ‘master trio of today, as in their day were those of Beethoven in B flat and D, as street lighting and modernised the public water supply in the early 1700s; they was that of Schubert in E flat.’ Gottfried Wilhelm Fink, writing in the influential also encouraged an extensive building programme that led in turn to an increase Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung , recalled the ‘extraordinary impression that this in population and prosperity. Leipzig’s concert life flourished in line with the new trio has made at its pubic performance as well as in private circles.’ He rapid growth of the city’s middle classes, notably so following the opening of the went on to praise the work’s ‘sustained interweaving of themes and … sure Gewandhaus concert hall in 1781. The buoyant local market for music supported mastery of form’ and noted that it also ‘has as much as anyone could desire of the creation of ambitious new choral societies in the early 1800s and guaranteed lively excitement, fresh drive, joyful brilliance’. The D minor Piano Trio’s loyal subscribers to their Gewandhaus concerts. Performances of the latest favourable early reception with critics and audiences gained momentum symphonic and chamber works appealed to the city’s musical connoisseurs, as did following Schumann’s declaration that it confirmed Mendelssohn’s position as the revival of compositions by Bach, Handel, Haydn and Mozart. By the time Felix ‘the Mozart of the nineteenth century; the most brilliant among musicians; the Mendelssohn was appointed director of instrumental and vocal music at the one who has most clearly recognised the contradictions of the times, and [is] Gewandhaus in 1835, Leipzig was second only to Berlin among German cities in the first to reconcile them.’ It is not quite clear what ‘contradictions’ Schumann the diversity and breadth of its music-making and arguably unrivalled in terms of had in mind; they surely arose, however, from the aesthetic debate about the the quality of its professional musicians. relative values of formal technique and integrity in musical composition on one Mendelssohn’s Leipzig audience comprised members of the old nobility and the side and free invention and virtuosity on the other, a battle in the ongoing war new bourgeoisie. While his private concerts attracted an elite company of between Classicism and Romanticism. scholars, fellow composers, foreign dignitaries, artists, writers and opinion- During his development from remarkable child prodigy to artistic maturity, formers, his public programmes appealed to a wider segment of civic society. The Mendelssohn produced almost every form of instrumental music bar the piano composer complained, however, that his high ideals for ‘serious’ music were not trio. A youthful work for piano, and viola, from 1820, contains sections shared by a general public that wished more to be entertained than spiritually that sound like the makings of a piano . He first considered exploring uplifted by the art-form. He used his Gewandhaus position to shape public taste, the genre proper, for violin, piano and cello, in the early 1830s: ‘I should like to introducing concert programmes that often mixed the old blend of short compose a couple of good trios,’ he wrote to his sister Fanny in 1832. He orchestral pieces and opera arias in one half with a few substantial works, revisited the idea six years later in a letter to his friend Ferdinand Hiller, crowned by a symphony, in the second. Mendelssohn also cultivated interest in declaring that he intended ‘to write a pair of trios soon’. Mendelssohn finally at the Gewandhaus. His Piano Trio in D minor received its first began work on his first piano trio in February 1839, sketching material that he performance there on 1 February 1840, with the composer at the piano, and the took with him on a summer visit to Frankfurt, his wife’s home town. He drafted string parts played by the Gewandhaus ’s leader, Ferdinand David, and a complete version of the score in June and July and made significant revisions its principal cellist, Franz Carl Wittmann. that autumn in response to Hiller’s observations that ‘Certain pianoforte famously refined pianism. Rondo form returns in the trio’s meaty finale. The A- passages … seemed to me – to speak candidly – somewhat old-fashioned.’ Hiller B-A-C-A-B-C-A structure’s repetitions and contrasts offer Mendelssohn scope to suggested that Mendelssohn should embrace the ‘richness of passages which revisit material presented earlier in the composition: he matches the finale’s marked the new piano school’ of Chopin and Liszt, and eventually persuaded the reflective opening, for example, to the pianissimo close of the preceding composer to make changes, chiefly to the piano trio’s first movement. The movement, retaining the scherzo’s forward momentum and flowing semiquavers sprightly piano figurations in the emended Molto allegro agitato and in the as essential ingredients of the fourth movement’s agitated opening. The work’s intense finale helped create a synthesis of modern virtuoso techniques insistent rhythmic motif present in the finale’s main theme (and recalled again and classical approaches to melodic development and form. in its B section) also derives from the scherzo; the flowing C section, The Piano Trio in D minor plays with tradition. Mendelssohn presents the meanwhile, echoes melodic material from the slow movement. Mendelssohn substantial first movement’s two main themes on cello, establishing the recalls the disparate emotional states of his work’s first three movements, instrument’s place as equal partner rather than subservient supporter of its two exploring each within the fresh context of its finale before raising spirits with a companions. His choice of modulations are also innovative: the triumphant D major conclusion. movement does little more than touch on its relative major key, F major, Almost six years passed before Mendelssohn realised his ambition to create ‘a introducing light into the prevailing minor-key shade with ingenious shifts to pair of trios’. The second of his piano trios, published in 1846 with a dedication more remote major keys in the central development section. The cello’s to the composer and violinist Louis Spohr, shares many common features with recapitulation of the main theme is graced by a violin countermelody and a brief its predecessor. The composer created the piece in the early months of 1845 piano cadenza, the latter responsible for subverting the symmetry of the theme’s during an extended period of retreat from his duties as a performer and original statement. administrator. He had recently concluded a disappointing engagement as general Romantic sensibilities are served in the Andante con moto tranquillo . The music director to the Prussian court, where King Friedrich Wilhelm IV’s movement in B-flat major, cast in A-B-A form, opens with a glorious ‘song ambitious plans to reform Berlin’s musical institutions had been hobbled by without words’ for solo piano that unfolds in dialogue with a duet for violin and local resistance to change. Mendelssohn vowed ‘never again to stay’ in Berlin. cello. Mendelssohn awakens more turbulent emotions in the central section, He took refuge with his family in Frankfurt at the end of 1844 and returned to stirred by triplet chords in the piano and a yearning minor-key theme, which composition soon after, unleashing a flood of new works, the Six Organ Sonatas fade in intensity before the initial section’s heartfelt return. The work’s light and Op.65 among them, and compiling his final volume of Lieder ohne Worte Op.67. vivacious D major scherzo, a rondo in all but name, was no doubt conceived to The Piano Trio in C minor, completed on 30 April 1845, opens with a tense remind its first audience of Mendelssohn’s celebrated virtuosity at the keyboard. ascending theme presented by the piano above a sustained ‘pedal’ note in the The movement’s dancing 6/8 rhythms and syncopations call for sprightly finger cello. The sonata-form movement’s dramatic focus is intensified throughout by work and clearly focused staccato articulations, both suited to the composer’s Mendelssohn’s inventive use of material derived from the main theme: the exposition, for example, comprises three subject groups, the second of which, in on an elegant, song-like theme in D major, which remains clearly present within E flat major, is supported by an accompaniment based on the main theme; the the course of its first six variations. Mendelssohn rocks the expressive boat in movement’s concluding coda, meanwhile, combines the main theme in its Variation VII with an abrupt lurch into D minor and a wild outburst of piano original state with a version played in augmented crotchets by violin and viola. octaves. The dependable main theme returns in the final variation before being The Andante espressivo presents another ‘song without words’, tender in nature freely modified and extended in a coda that fades to a gentle conclusion. and sublime in its contrasts of texture and timbre. The movement’s character is In August 1845 Mendelssohn returned to Leipzig from Frankfurt and launched set by a cradle song in E flat major for solo piano and subsequent accompanied the Gewandhaus orchestral season soon after with a concert of works by Weber, duet for violin and viola. Mendelssohn draws the ear to frequent repetitions of Clara Schumann and Beethoven. He contributed a new composition to the the opening melody’s first four notes, creating a sense of unity that connects season’s first chamber music evening on 18 October, accompanying the ill-fated the contrasting central section, cast in E flat minor, to the rest of the young French cellist Lisa Cristiani in his Lied ohne Worte in D major, published movement. The breathless scherzo bristles with restless energy, underpinned by a posthumously as Op.109. The work’s quality of invention and engaging taut formal structure of insistent rondo repetitions, subtle thematic emotional balance compare with the finest of Mendelssohn’s ‘songs without transformations and strategically placed contrasts between minor and major words’ for piano. The Albumblatt Op.107 (literally ‘album leaf’), another modes. Traces of the so-called Hungarian gypsy style, or style hongrois , surface posthumous publication, began life in the summer of 1836. It was written for strongly in the scherzo’s central section and are present until the movement, Friedrich Wilhelm Benecke, a fellow childhood refugee from Hamburg who made which Mendelssohn described as ‘a trifle nasty to play’, melts away. An upward his mark as an entrepreneur in England and was father-in-law to the composer’s leap, spanning the interval of a ninth, launches the finale. The movement’s eldest daughter, Marie. The piano piece, an Allegro in E minor, conjures up jaunty main theme gives way to serious matters, announced by the piano’s hymn nocturnal images with its flowing triplet and yearning principal tune (complete with an initial allusion to the Lutheran chorale, Gelobet seist Du, melody. Mendelssohn, as so often in his compositions, effects spiritual Jesu Christ ), reinforced by the near-symphonic scope of its subsequent transformation in the hymn-like central section; its lyrical music in E major development, and almost overloaded with piano tremolandos and stopped strings prepares listeners to receive the restatement of the work’s wistful main theme at its final C major return. The work draws to a gracious close with a coda in with fresh ears. which Mendelssohn weaves together the finale’s main theme and chorale melody.

Mendelssohn’s younger brother Paul was an outstanding amateur cellist. His Andrew Stewart considerable musical and technical competence can be measured by the high demands Felix set for him in the Andante con variazioni of January 1829, published the following year as the Variations concertantes Op.17. The work rests GOULD PIANO TRIO BIOGRAPHIES

Recently compared to the Beaux Arts Trio by the Washington Post for their Lucy Gould founded the Gould Piano Trio in 1992 whilst studying at the Royal ‘musical fire’ and dedication to the genre, the Gould Piano Trio continue to bring Academy of Music. Alongside her work with the trio she is also a member of the the masterpieces of their repertoire to an ever-widening public. Chamber Orchestra of Europe and much in demand as a guest leader of many After winning Melbourne’s inaugural International Chamber Music Competition, leading in the UK. She has made concerto appearances with the BBC the Goulds quickly established a worldwide reputation with many tours National Orchestra of Wales, the Bournemouth Sinfonietta and the English String throughout Europe, the USA, South America, Far East and New Zealand. Orchestra. After their highly regarded rendition of James MacMillan’s Fourteen Little Pictures , As a much sought-after chamber musician, Lucy has collaborated with many artists, they commissioned a second piano trio from the composer, premiered at the Bath including Roger Vignoles and Leon McCawley. Her recordings include John Ireland’s International Festival in May 2014 and subsequently toured in the UK. The Violin Sonatas with Benjamin Frith for Naxos ( BBC Music Magazine Chamber Music Goulds have performed complete cycles of the Dvorak trios at Wigmore Hall and Choice), the premiere performance of violin works by Stanford for Naxos and the the Beethoven trios at St. George’s Bristol; this ‘live’ Beethoven appears on the Mendelssohn Octet with Daniel Hope and colleagues from the Chamber Orchestra of SOMM label. The trio’s discography is very far-reaching. Their Brahms cycle is Europe (Deutsche Grammophon). A CD of chamber music by Bax, including the unique in including both his early trios and those for clarinet and horn, and their premiere recording of the Trio for clarinet, violin and piano was shortlisted for a exploration into the works of the late British romantics such as Stanford, Ireland, Gramophone Award. Bax, Scott and Milford (Chandos and Naxos) has brought critical acclaim. Lucy has three children and lives in Cardiff, holding a teaching post at the Royal The Trio have always found the space in their musical lives to coach, principally Welsh College of Music and Drama. at the Royal Northern College of Music and the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama where they hold residencies. Their outreach work with school children and Alice Neary was the winner of the 1998 Pierre Fournier Award, and won major in the community brings a sense of added communication and perspective to prizes in 2001 Leonard Rose Competition, USA and the 1997 Adam International their outlook. Cello Competition, New Zealand. Of particular pride is the creation of the Corbridge and the Royal Welsh College of Alice’s performances have included with the Ulster Orchestra, Scottish Music and Drama festivals by the Gould Piano Trio with clarinettist Robert Plane, Chamber Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and Israel Symphony and recitals where the collaboration with guest artists refreshes their musical inspiration. at the Wigmore Hall, Purcell Room and Bridgewater Hall. Festival appearances The Goulds enjoy a special relationship with Champs Hill Records. include Santa Fe, Bath and City of . She has broadcast extensively on BBC Radio 3 and NPR (USA) and recordings include the Tovey Cello concerto with the Ulster Orchestra, Ireland cello sonata and Paul Patterson cello concerto. ALSO AVAILABLE...

A passionate chamber musician, Alice joined the Gould Piano Trio in 2001 and has appeared as guest cellist with Nash Ensemble, Endellion and Elias string quartets. Alice studied with Ralph Kirshbaum at the Royal Northern College of Music and with Timothy Eddy, as a Fulbright scholar in USA. She teaches at the Royal College of Music and Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. She plays an Alessandro Gagliano cello of 1710. 5 Benjamin Frith sought the guidance of Fanny Waterman and went on to win 2 8 1 0 0 D awards culminating in the Artur Rubinstein Piano Masters Gold Medal. D C C R R H H C Subsequently he has enjoyed a varied career, playing concertos with such C orchestras as the Halle and Warsaw Philharmonic, recitals at major festivals and RACHMANINOV/TCHAIKOVSKY MENDELSSOHN: COMPLETE WORKS coaching mainly at the RNCM. GOULD PIANO TRIO FOR In recent years he has devoted much of his time to the chamber repertoire, RACHMANINOV: TRIO ÉLÉGIAQUE IN A four-CD survey of the complete quartet principally as pianist in the Gould Piano Trio. G MINOR, NO.1 music of Felix and Fanny Mendelssohn, Throughout the latter half of his career he has had the good fortune to record TCHAIKOVSKY: TRIO IN A MINOR, OP.50 including all seven of Felix Mendelssohn’s much of the early romantic solo piano music (for Naxos) and a good deal of the string quartets, his Four Pieces for String The outstanding Gould Piano Trio perform Quartet Op.81 , Twelve Fugues for String late Classical and Romantic trio literature. His Davidsbundler Op.6 of Schumann these two evocative works; the Rachmaninov Quartet , and his tender love song Frage, was chosen as top recommendation by Radio 3. almost a miniature piano concerto, the Op.9/1 which inspired his Op.13 quartet; Tchaikovsky one of the finest works for piano plus Fanny Mendelssohn’s String Quartet. Other releases include Moeran’s 3rd Rhapsody with the Ulster Orchestra and the trio of the Romantic era. second concerto of C.V. Stanford with BBC National Orchestra of Wales. “meticulous skill, pristine intonation... Each quartet work is performed by a He takes a particular pleasure in exploring the work of the late romantic convincing, engaging performances” different young ensemble, the set British composers. AllMusic.com featuring the Benyounes, Idomeneo, “polished, blended and heartfelt... difficult to Sacconi, Navarra, Castalian, Piatti, imagine more robust, sensitive and responsive Badke, Artea, Wu and Cavaleri string playing of these Late-Romantic works.” quartets, with Sophie Bevan (soprano) MusicWeb International and Julian Milford (piano). BBC Music Magazine Chamber Disc of the Month