PROGRAM AND PROGRAM NOTES​​​

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Franz Josef Haydn: Piano Trio in G major, Hob. XV:25 “Gypsy” 

(1795, 15 minutes)​

“How sweet is the taste of liberty,” Haydn wrote to his friend Marianne von Genzinger from London during his first tour there in 1791. London had been calling for several years, but it wasn’t until the death of his employer, Prince Nicholas Esterházy in 1790 that “sweet liberty” became a reality for the 58-year-old composer. He had finally accepted the last of many invitations from the violinist concert promoter Johann Peter Salomon to compose and conduct a series of concerts.

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Not long after his arrival, Haydn received a letter from Rebecca Schroeter, a wealthy widow in her early 40s seeking his services as a teacher. What followed was a classic case of teacher and student entering into an intimate relation; Mrs. Schroeter wrote him 22 letters displaying her emotions, sent him gifts, and even copied music for him. Haydn was not only flattered, but was equally infatuated with his student. He made the statement to his first biographer that “Though I was 60  years old, she was still loving and amiable, and in all likelihood I would have married her if I had been single.” Upon his second sojourn to London in 1794, Haydn stayed in rooms near Mrs. Schroeter’s home, much to their mutual satisfaction. It was during this visit that he dedicated to her three piano trios, including the second, No. 39 in G major.

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Like most piano trios of the time, the G-major Trio presents an imbalance between the strings and piano, the latter being the dominant sonority and carrier of motivic material. It’s no accident that Haydn’s English publishers labeled this set of three as “sonatas for the pianoforte, with an accompaniment of a violin & violoncello.” The first movement is a theme and variations, each variation alternating with one in minor mode. The Poco adagio in E-flat major brings the violin into relief with its sharing of melodic materials as well as accompaniment. The Presto Rondo all’Ongarese (Rondo in the Gypsy style) is a rapid-fire moto perpetuo alternating with earthy dance-like sections characteristic of a stylized Gypsy music. —Steve Lacoste

Paul Schoenfield: Café Music
(1986, 16 minutes)
Paul Schoenfield (1947-2024), also sometimes known as Paul Schoenfeld or Pinchas Schoenfeld, was born in Detroit and started piano lessons at age six. His talent was such that in 1966 he was featured in one of Leonard Bernstein's Young People's Concerts with the New York Philharmonic. After receiving degrees from Carnegie-Mellon University and the University of Arizona, Schoenfield spent many years as a pianist, mostly playing solo recitals and chamber music.

He was also getting attention as a composer, with works commissioned and played by the likes of the New York Philharmonic, Seattle Symphony, and Haifa Symphony, as well as instrumentalists like violinists James Ehnes and Cho-Liang Lin, violist Robert Vernon, and pianist Jon Kimura Parker. Schoenfield later taught at the University of Toledo, the University of Akron, and the University of Michigan. A bit of a polymath, he also taught mathematics for a time, and amassed a fair amount of money in online gambling, as he moved between the United States and Israel. Schoenfield passed away on April 29, 2024 in Jerusalem.

Schoenfield's music is known for its effortless combination of classical style with elements drawn from folk and popular music. He has been compared with George Gershwin in this regard, with one writer adding that his works “do for Hassidic music what Astor Piazzolla did for the Argentine tango.” Perhaps Schoenfield's most-performed and best-loved composition is Café Music, which was commissioned by the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra and given its premiere on January 25, 1987 by Schoenfield and two members of the Orchestra, violinist Leslie Shank and cellist Joshua Koestenbaum. Schoenfield wrote this about Café Music: “The idea to compose Café Music first came to me in 1985 after sitting in one night for the pianist at Murray’s Restaurant in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Murray’s employs a house trio that plays entertaining dinner music in a wide variety of styles. My intention was to write a kind of high-class dinner music – music which could be played at a restaurant, but might also (just barely) find its way into a concert hall. The work draws on many of the types of music played by the trio at Murray’s. For example, early 20th-century American, Viennese, light classical, gypsy, and Broadway styles are all represented. A paraphrase of a beautiful Chassidic melody is incorporated in the second movement.” -- Chris Morrison

Felix Mendelssohn: Piano Trio No. 1 in D minor, Op. 49
(1839, 28 minutes)
Mendelssohn, one of the great prodigies of his or any other time, was by his teens already a practiced hand at composing and performing chamber music. At the age of sixteen he wrote the Octet, still one of the most beloved of chamber works, having already produced a number of sonatas and trios, two piano quartets, and a sextet. His considerable output of chamber music continued as he became music director in Düsseldorf in 1833, conductor of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra in 1835, and founder of the Leipzig Conservatory in 1843.

 

The Trio in D minor, Op 49 is the earlier and better known of his two mature piano trios, and won its composer great acclaim. Not long after its appearance, Robert Schumann, who called Mendelssohn “the Mozart of the nineteenth century,” wrote of the D minor Trio, “This is the master trio of our age, as were the B-flat and D major trios of Beethoven and the E-flat trio of Schubert in their times. It is an exceedingly fine composition which will gladden our grandchildren and great-grandchildren for many years to come.” The work was premiered on February 1, 1840, at the Leipzig Gewandhaus by violinist Ferdinand David – the concertmaster of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, and the soloist for whom Mendelssohn also wrote his Violin Concerto – along with cellist Franz Karl Witmann, and Mendelssohn himself at the piano.

Over agitated, syncopated piano chords, the cello announces the opening movement’s main theme. After it is repeated over piano arpeggios, a second, more song-like second theme emerges and becomes the basis of an intense development. The opening theme then returns, with more brilliant piano writing, but this time joined by a descending violin line that recurs in the lovely second movement, which is reminiscent of the composer’s many “Songs Without Words.” After the piano introduces the movement's main theme, the violin takes it up with counterpoint provided by the cello. A passionate middle section provides some contrast.

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Marked “light and lively,” the light-textured, delightful third movement has some of the magic of the fairy music from Mendelssohn's Overture to A Midsummer Night’s Dream as well as the third movement of his Violin Concerto, as the main theme is tossed gently from instrument to instrument. The piano drives the passionate finale forward. Moments of relaxation are provided, notably by another song-like theme from the cello, but the movement ends as energetically as it began. After Mendelssohn had completed the Trio, he showed it to the composer Ferdinand Hiller, who was staying with him in Leipzig. Hiller, while very impressed, had some misgivings about the piano part, which he felt was rather old fashioned. Mendelssohn chose to rewrite the entirety of the piano part, making it both less conventional and more difficult. These revisions are most notable in the fourth movement, with the brilliant piano providing arpeggios, octaves, and powerful chords. After a fairly straightforward opening idea, the music drives powerfully forward. Two  interruptions of a lyrical cello melody halt the momentum but briefly, as the music surges to its final climax. -- Chris Morrison

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