Serenade for violin, viola & cello in C major, Op. 10
String Trio, Op. 45
String Trio No. 2, H. 238
Judged only on hearing Dohnányi's boisterous Serenade in C major, Op. 10, or Martinu's vigorous String Trio No. 2, this album of twentieth century music for string trio might seem a bracing but generally pleasant listening experience. Dohnányi's five-movement work traverses many moods, from plaintive yearning to excited passion, but is sunny and optimistic overall, staying well within the bounds of light music. Similarly, Martinu's trio bristles with dissonant contrapuntal activity and flashes of fiery virtuosity, yet its ...
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Judged only on hearing Dohnányi's boisterous Serenade in C major, Op. 10, or Martinu's vigorous String Trio No. 2, this album of twentieth century music for string trio might seem a bracing but generally pleasant listening experience. Dohnányi's five-movement work traverses many moods, from plaintive yearning to excited passion, but is sunny and optimistic overall, staying well within the bounds of light music. Similarly, Martinu's trio bristles with dissonant contrapuntal activity and flashes of fiery virtuosity, yet its neo-Classical orientation and bright major chords sustain a mood that is more cheerful than fretful. However, one work on the program should be approached with caution: Schoenberg's String Trio, Op. 45, is one of his most intensely personal works, and painful in its evocation of a confrontation with death. Composed in 1946, shortly after Schoenberg's near-fatal heart attack, it is by turns ominous, disturbing, and frightening in its effects and gestures, and must be heard with more...
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