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

Programme Notes

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

Piano Trio No.2

St Mary the Virgin Church (Cratfield, Suffolk, United Kingdom)

Leonore Piano Trio

Piano Trio No.2

Housman Rooms, University College London (London, United Kingdom)

Rupert Bawden/Nicki Pearce/Chris Crocker

Piano Trio No.2

Holy Trinity Church (Blythburgh, Suffolk, United Kingdom)

Odysseus Piano Trio

Piano Trio No.2

Kings Place (London, United Kingdom)

Leonore Piano Trio

Piano Trio No.2

Blackheath Halls (London, United Kingdom)

Grier Trio