Three Piano Trios in the Span of a Decade

Kate Stenberg, Miles Graber, and Mary Artmann (from the Old First Concerts event page for last night)

Last night Old First Concerts presented and live-streamed a recital by the trio of pianist Miles Graber, cellist Mary Artmann, and violinist Kate Stenberg. The program consisted of three compositions, all written within a span of ten years, which also happened to include the entirety of World War I. The selections were played in reverse chronological order, beginning with Dmitri Shostakovich’s Opus 8 (first) trio in C minor, completed in 1923, followed by Rebecca Clarke’s 1921 piano trio. The second half of the program was devoted entirely to Maurice Ravel’s 1914 piano trio.

World War I “officially” began on July 28, 1914, when Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. Ravel had begun work on his trio the previous March. As hostilities began to spread during the month of August, Ravel rushed to complete the trio, after which he planned to enlist in the army. In October he served as a nurse’s aide, and in March of 1916 he would go on to become a volunteer truck driver for the 13th Artillery Regiment. The trio itself was first performed in Paris in January of 1915.

Last night’s performance was consistently attentive over the course of the trio’s four movements. The first movement is particularly notable for its spooky use of upper-level natural harmonics in the final measures, and the effect was well served by Artmann’s cello work. Equally compelling was the account of the third-movement Passacaille, followed by further explorations of upper harmonics in the concluding movement.

Taken as a whole, there are a wide span of dispositions over the course of the trio, none of which necessarily suggest Ravel’s intention to enter military service after the composition had been completed.

After the Armistice there were signs of a “new world order” in formation. Shostakovich’s trio is a relatively youthful work confined to a single movement. The young composer was clearly enjoying the benefits of “freedom of speech” with an almost rampant optimism, even if the key of the trio was C minor. The composer had no idea what the future would hold for him, but his early exploitations of high spirits all make for engaging listening.

Clarke was born in England and began her studies at the Royal Academy of Music in 1903. She would eventually move to the United States in 1916. The major anecdote of her life involves a viola sonata she composed in 1919 for a competition sponsored by her neighbor, Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge. The judges could not believe that one of the best of the entries was written by a woman, and there was even speculation that Ernest Bloch had submitted a second entry under the name “Rebecca Clarke.” By 1921 there was finally some acceptance that a woman could compose music on a par with Bloch’s efforts. The trio was submitted to another Coolidge competition but again failed to take the first prize.

Fortunately, Clarke’s work has begun to receive more attention with increased interest in female composers throughout the entire span of music history. In September of 2019, this site wrote an article about the album Her Voice released by the Neave Trio on the Chandos label. Clarke’s trio was performed on this recording along with piano trios by Amy Beach and Louise Farrenc. Clarke was born in 1886, and Beach preceded her by about twenty years. However, Farrenc was born in 1804! Last night’s account of Clarke’s trio made a clear case that the music deserved a major place in twentieth-century history.