Another Winner from the Rawlins Trio
J Scott Morrison | Middlebury VT, USA | 08/21/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
"In my previous review of an all American music disc by the Rawlins Piano Trio American Romance I commented about their work bringing forward piano trio music by American composers, in that case such people as Henry Holden Huss, Mortimer Wilson, and Adolph Martin Foerster. On the present disc they continue their work of bringing us American composers' music that is worth hearing. We get another set of pieces by Mortimer Wilson (1876-1932) -- four more pieces from his 1911 'From My Youth'. A different four pieces from the set were on the first disc mentioned above. At the time those were recorded these first four pieces had not yet been located by the Trio. They have childlike titles -- 'Teddy Bear's Lullaby', 'Waltz of the Negro Dolls', 'Around the May Pole', and 'Tiny Spinner'. One would expect them to be simple, but they are not; their harmonic sophistication is a delight and they are unfailingly tuneful, as well as being excellent character pieces.
The Trio includes one contemporary work, one they commissioned from Haitian-American composer Daniel Bernard Roumain (b. 1971), 'Volvic Maritim', which consists, in its one movement, of two parts: 'Wanting' and 'Needing.' I will admit that I am not particularly taken by this piece, which strikes me as dull gray, but it is to the Trio's credit that they are commissioning new works.
Edwin Grasse (1884-1954) was a blind composer/violinist/pianist whose Second Piano Trio in A Major was probably premiered some time before its publication 1914. It is in the usual four movements and owes a debt to piano trios of Brahms with its easy counterpoint, rhythmic sophistication and tunefulness. Grasse's Trio could probably have benefited from great concision. For instance the lovely main melody of the first movement is repeated far too many times. But this is graceful, well-constructed music worth hearing.
Henry Cowell (1897-1965) was known as a modernist but his 'Trio: Four Combinations for Three Instruments' (1924) has nothing forbidding about it. Its primary interest comes from Cowell's instrumentation. The first movement is for violin and cello, the second for violin and piano, the third for cello and piano, and the fourth for all three instruments. The music itself uses a good deal of free counterpoint in the service of lyricism.
Anna Priscilla Risher (1875-1946) was a prolific composer who, among other things, wrote more than 300 songs, some of which were popular in her day. This disc presents four miniatures for piano trio from the 1920s: Andante religioso; Berceuse; Mazurka; and From the West. They are melodic, charming, unassuming, and simple in form. They are played here with grace and polish.
The Rawlins Piano Trio's members -- violinist John Thomson, cellist Marie-Elaine Gagnon, and pianist Susan Keith Gray -- are all members of the faculty at the University of South Dakota. Their playing is artful, suave and pleasing.
Scott Morrison
"
Track Listings (8) - Disc #1
