Score and parts 0-571-51552-5 (fp) on sale

My Second Piano Trio was composed between March and September 1993. It is classical in shape and tonality: there are four movements, the Adagio being by far the longest. The first movement is a concise sonata allegro of a kind I have tried in several other pieces. Here the conclusion is such that the first and second subjects, for instance, are recapitulated simultaneously. It is in A minor, with a coda in the major. The Adagio is a memorial piece for my companion for ten years, Maggie Hemingway, who died in May 1993 after a serious illness. It is a slow barcarolle in D flat major. The scherzo is based on scraps of vernacular melody; there is a trio, then a partial repeat of the scherzo before an abrupt coda. The finale has three sections: the first and last are fantastic, with much use of string harmonics; the central section is a broad song. Piano Trio No. 2 was commissioned by the Chagall Trio with funds from the Arts Council of Great Britain.

© David Matthews