Work
Trio
for violin, clarinet and piano
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About
Trio for violin, clarinet and piano was written on the 50th anniversary of the death of Béla Bartók.
It is in three movements.
The first uses an ascending "pyramid" of fourths as a structural device to mark the architecture of the movement. The use of this motive is my tribute to the compositional mastery of Bartók. The angular phrase that follows sets up expectations which subside as the truly lyrical quality of the first part unfolds, evolves and returns to a transformation of the "pyramid" motive. Now increased in energy this motive concludes the first part of the movement and at the same time announces the second part which has a more driving rhythmic quality.
The second movement is a tribute to the world of folk music. The 44 bar melody, folk-like in its clarity, is a lament for all music that has been lost. It is played first by solo piano which is then joined by the violin and clarinet in a variation before returning to a fuller arrangement.
The third movement is a dance - again a tribute to folk music. My work with the Tangaroa College Cook Island Drumming Group inspired some of the rhythmic material. A short cadenza for the violin leads to a virtuoso bridge and back to the dance. The material of this bridge forms the basis of the coda where the virtuoso skills of all the performers are tested.