Trio da camera

Description

Trio da camera

2016
Oboe, horn and piano
Duration: 18′
Premiere: Carrie Vecchione, oboe; Sarah Schmalenberger, horn; Gail Olszewski, piano, St. Paul, Minn. 10/25/2018
Score and parts included.

Program note

In spring 2016 I found myself writing an “outdoor” trio for brass. When the intrepid amateur oboist and acoustician David Braslau expressed interest in commissioning a chamber work for oboe, my thoughts went indoors, to a three-movement work for oboe, horn and piano.There is a small but vital repertoire for the combination, including a fine Trio, Opus 188 by Carl Reinecke.

David’s advice to me: “I like melody.” Allegro rustico begins in irregular meters, but settles into a gently lyrical second subject. After a brief, contentious development, the irregularities are swept up in a tornadic coda. Largo solennelle is a stately sarabande, with the wind players finishing each other’s sentences. Allegro amabile contrasts three ideas: an expansive lyrical solo line; a descending scalar melody; and a jocular tune that features hunting-horn fifths. Quotations from two famous works bring the the work to a high-spirited conclusion, as the instruments reach beyond the chamber to iconic licks from Stravinsky’s Rite and Ravel’s Tombeau.