Piano Trio No.3 - Elegia Stravagante

Composer’s note: 1: Andante (rapsodico) (October 2013) On the afternoon of the 28th I went to sleep for a short while and dreamed up a septuplet ‘trill-flourish’ motif in C major and an ensuing ‘upward-sweeping’ melodic fragment of a minor 2nd and major 7th, both of which I immediately wrote down. This was to be the material on which the trio was based. 2: Scherzo malizioso I was searching for a 6/8 allegro idea and worked at several until I suddenly remembered the ‘jazz fugue’ from ‘Movement for orchestra’ which I’d written way back in about 1963. It seemed to fit perfectly and work most effectively for piano trio, forming a perfect link between the Andante (rapsodico) and the next section Tragico. 3: Tragico Tragico begins with the upward-sweeping motif, but now very slow and sad. This forms a bridge and modulation to E-minor where the cello enunciates the theme ‘Parting’, a fragment I had dreamt up whilst preparing the repertoire for Vladimir Ashkenazy’s album of my piano works in June 2013. Here the ‘Parting’ theme develops greatly, leading quite rapidly and unexpectedly to a colossal climax, then falling down to a paused low chord of C major which begins section 4. 4: Grave, molto espressivo Grave molto espressivo is a deeply-felt cadenza for violin and cello which then starts to accelerate (piu mosso) towards section 5 5: Allegro furioso Cello and violin play in unison at the 16th against a constantly turning piano phrase using the ever-present ‘trill-flourish’ motif. Martial and tragic hints and twists are now overcome by massive upward scalic movements seeking a major key and suddenly triumphantly asserting that of E major. 6: Giojoso, estatico Giojoso, ecstatico transforms and inverts the minor ‘upward-sweeping’ theme into a major ‘hymn of triumph’ punctuated with huge piano chords. The energy of this is so great however that it must inevitably sink down to regain stability and a hardly-moving harmonic ‘thirds duplet’ grows gradually quieter and slower until it sinks away to nothing without resolution. 7: Andante, come prima (January 2014) The music of the opening returns but this time in the key to which the piece has ascended – E major, the final bar picking up the ‘trill-flourish’ motif and giving the whole work a resolution with a very short coda on violin and cello sounding alone – yet perhaps finally together. The piano is wise enough not to interfere.