Program Notes:

A chaconne is a musical form in which a thematic core, conceived of as a succession of chords, serves as the harmonic foundation for a series of variations that follow.

Bach Chaconne, from Partita No. 2 in d minor, arranged for Eroica Trio by A. Dudley:

The Chaconne from Johann Sebastian Bach’s Partita No. 2 is the final movement of the second of three partitas (dance suites), each of which has a companion church sonata (with no dance movements), all six for solo violin. The three sonatas are thought to have been completed by 1718 while Bach served in Cöthen (1717-1723). They are remarkable in that Bach wrote out the ornamentation rather than using the traditional symbols for ornaments or leaving the elaboration to the whim of the performer. In 1720 Bach wrote the partitas and joined them to the sonatas.

Recent scholars see the Chaconne as a reflection of the heartrending circumstances in which Bach completed the three solo violin partitas: in early summer 1720 he had accompanied his employer on a three-month long trip to Karlsbad, but upon returning home he learned that his beloved wife of thirteen years, Maria Barbara, had suddenly become ill and died only days earlier. The Chaconne, especially, appears to be deeply expressive of grief.

Whether or not her death inspired this Chaconne, there is nothing like it in any of Bach’s other suites, nor in anyone else’s for that matter. “On one stave, for a small instrument, the man writes a whole world of the deepest thoughts and most powerful feelings,” wrote Johannes Brahms in a letter to Clara Schumann, as he contemplated the majesty of the work.

Arrangements of the Chaconne have been created for many instruments and ensembles. This magnificent arrangement for piano trio is by Anne Dudley (the British composer who has scored such films as The Crying Game and The Full Monty).

Godard Berceuse de Jocelyn:

Benjamin Godard was a French violinist and composer of Jewish extraction best known for his opera Jocelyn. Godard composed eight operas, five symphonies, two piano and two violin concertos, string quartets, sonatas for violin and piano, piano pieces and etudes, and more than a hundred songs. In 1876, his Concerto romantique was performed at the Concerts Populaires, and other of his large works were also performed at these concerts. In 1878, Godard was the co-winner of the Prix de la Ville de Paris. His winning composition, a dramatic symphony entitled Le Tasso, remains one of his most admired works. He died at the age of 45 of tuberculosis.

Jocelyn, first performed in Paris in 1888, is based upon an earthly love which tempts Jocelyn, a brother at a seminary. The "Berceuse" from it, probably Godard's best-known composition, is sung by Jocelyn as he tries to lull one of his companions to sleep. It became so popular that it has been arranged for practically every combination of instruments.

Brahms Trio in B Major, Opus 8:

Johannes Brahms’s Piano Trio in B major is a work both young and old. Brahms was only 21 when he published  it in 1854 but more than 30 years later, when the Simrock publishing house acquired the rights from Breitkopf & Härtel, he was offered the chance to make revisions. He accepted, revised large swathes of every movement except the Scherzo with the aim of reining in what he considered the “youthful excesses” of the work’s original version. On September 3, 1889 he wrote to Clara Schumann, “With what childish amusement I whiled away the beautiful summer days you will never guess. I have rewritten my B major Trio … It will not be as wild as before – but will it be better?”

The result is a stereoscopic view of the composer both at the very start of his career and in his mature years. This 1889 version is  a wonderful expression of youthful exuberance and bursting emotions, tempered by the refined craft of the master composer. It was the development sections of the early version that bothered the mature Brahms most, and when he revised the trio, he kept the opening section of each movement virtually intact but wrote new second subjects for the first, third, and fourth movements. 

What is clear is that the mature composer’s taste for rich, low piano textures was present from the very beginning. The broad, lyrical opening theme of the first movement was one element that remained constant in both versions. This is one of those noble melodies characteristic of Brahms from the start. The piano introduces the singing second subject (a new theme that Brahms created as part of the revision), and the development focuses mostly on this theme. But in a magical touch, Brahms brings back the opening melody – now marked tranquillo – and embellishes it softly as the movement gradually gathers strength and drives toward its firm concluding chords. 

The deftly scurrying scherzo pays homage to Mendelssohn. Together with its broadly lilting, waltz-like trio, it is virtually unchanged from the 1854 publication. The Adagio has a solemn, chorale-like beginning as piano and strings exchange phrases, but the real glory of this movement comes with its lovely second subject, sung by the cello. This theme was composed by the mature Brahms during the revision, and it is of such expressive autumnal lyricism that it transforms the original movement from the effort of a tentative beginner to the work of a master. The finale combines a somber main theme, begun by the cello above the agitated accompaniment of the piano, with a brighter subsidiary subject, played by the piano while the cello contributes little off-beat punctuations. It is the unsettled, B-minor main theme rather than the more optimistic second subject that draws the work to its restless close. 

About the Artists:

The Trio won the prestigious Naumburg Award in 1991, resulting in a highly successful Lincoln Center debut. Since then the Trio has toured the United States, Europe, Middle East, South America and Asia. While maintaining their demanding concert schedule, the Eroica Trio has released eight critically lauded recordings for Angel/EMI classics Records, garnering them multiple Grammy nominations. The first all-female chamber ensemble to reach the top echelon of the field, the women of the Eroica Trio has shattered the age-old gender barrier, leading the vanguard and inspiring many to follow.

The unique history of the players of the Eroica Trio goes all the way back to childhood. Sara Sant'Ambrogio and Erika Nickrenz first met at age 12, when Erika came to study with Sara's Grandmother, the founder of Red Fox Music Camp. Two years later, Sara collaborated with violinist Sara Parkins at the renowned Meadowmount School of Music, where they became fast friends, and later became roommates when they were both students at The Curtis Institute of Music. Sara Parkins and Erika Nickrenz also met in their teens, playing together as students at the Pre-College division of The Juilliard School and at the Tanglewood Music Center. That same year the Eroica Trio was formed at The Juilliard School. This intricate web of early connections helped forge a lifelong bond between the three women of the Eroica Trio.

(Program notes compiled by Tom Geballe)