Martinů – Trio for Flute, Cello, and Piano

^{Bohuslav Martinů (1890-1959)}

^{Trio for Flute, Cello, and Piano (1944)}

^{Bohuslav Martinů was born in a small village in Bohemia. In many respects, he was one of the luckier members of his generation: a significant number of his musical colleagues – Erwin Schulhoff, Pavel Hass, and Viktor Ullmann, among them – died at the hands of the Nazis. Martinů, though, settled in Paris in 1923, escaped to Vichy in 1940, and made his way to New York the following year.}

^{It was a few years after this flight that the Trio for Flute, Cello, and Piano was written. The score dates from July 1944 and was reportedly composed over just five days while Martinů was at Tanglewood. Unlike much of his music written during the war years, the Trio is, on the whole, marked by lightness of heart and good cheer.}

^{The first of its three movements kicks off with a scamping tune filled with trills and played by the flute, over the accompaniment of cello and piano. There’s some exchange of leadership among the instruments as the movement proceeds, but relatively little tension between the parts: the whole movement is characterized by high energy, lively rhythms, and a general lack of conflict.}

^{In the second movement, the mood becomes darker: there’s a substantial piano solo that eventually leads to a melody beginning in the low register of the flute and gradually joined by the cello. Throughout, flute and piano take lead roles, though there are some powerful moments featuring flute and cello in conversation together.}

^{The finale continues the previous movement’s pensive mood with the opening flute solo. Soon, though, the bustling vigor of a new theme intrudes and a lively, animated character takes over. There are moments of reflection – the middle of the movement features a lengthy episode of striking delicacy – but, on the whole, Virgil Thomson’s verdict stands fully justified: the trio, he wrote, is “a gem of bright sound and cheerful sentiment that does not sound like any other.”}

^{© Jonathan Blumhofer}

^{Reproduction Rights: This program note may be reproduced free of charge in concert programs with a credit to the author.}