Ensemble-in-Residence
Trio Barclay: Mendelssohn’s Piano Trio No. 1

Sun. Jan. 21, 2024 at 5pm

Performance Sponsor
Mike and Ellie Gordon
Karen Kuo-Limb and Jong C. Limb
Dot and Rick Nelson
Richard and Cheryll Ruszat – Montessori Schools of Irvine

This performance will include a 15-minute intermission.

Dennis Kim: violin
Jonah Kim: cello
Sean Kennard: piano

Ya-Jhu Yang: Piano Trio No. 2 (World Premiere) 

-intermission-

Felix Mendelssohn: Piano Trio No. 1 in D minor (Op. 49)

1. Molto allegro agitato
2. Andante con moto tranquillo
3. Scherzo. Leggiero e vivace
4. Finale. Allegro assai appassionato

My parents love singing. Growing up in Taiwan, folk songs were always playing in the house and on our car trips. In my family, karaoke was taken very seriously! At age seven, I joined a local church, and was introduced to a whole different sound world: Western choir music in four-part harmony, accompanied by the solemnness of the organ, and sometimes even eerie chimes. By the time I was in college, I was playing piano for a large symphonic choir and helping to rehearse them. Around this time, I was also exposed to more modern ways of using the human voice in song: twentieth-century composers such as Claude Debussy and Luciano Berio leaned into the voice’s capacity not just to produce melody, but to produce a wide range of sound colors.

As a composer myself, the sound of the human singing voice and its storytelling potential have become indispensable to my creative process—even in purely instrumental works. In this new work for piano trio, listeners will hear glimpses of folk-like melodies, sometimes clashing and compounding with cinematic harmonies. The violin and cello, with their sustaining power, are often treated like singers, playing flowing melodic lines. The piano even tries to emulate singing sometimes. The listener should also expect to hear evocative sound colors—the instruments may at times not even sound like themselves, if you close your eyes. But even the music that doesn’t sound like typical melody has its roots in vocal music—the voice is at the core of my creative existence. It’s my extreme honor to write this piece for Trio Barclay, and have their magical artistry bring this piece to life.

Program Notes by Ya-Jhu Yang

Mendelssohn’s Piano Trio No. 1 in D minor (Op. 49) is one of the most well-known and beloved piano trios of all time. With works like this in the Romantic period, we began to enjoy chamber music as a standard genre in more intimate concert settings when virtuoso artists like Mendelssohn would share the stage, himself at the piano, with friends who were noted artists and composers in their own right.

This very trio was premiered with the violinist/composer Ferdinand David and Franz Witmann on the cello. The great Robert Schumann was present and immediately recognized it as the representative work of their time, placing it on par with Beethoven’s “Archduke” and “Ghost” Trios and what they embodied of the late Classical period.

The traditional structure reminds us this served as a template for Schumann and Brahms’ trios. The innovative engineering is a demonstration in being creative through having immaculate discipline. It stands as one of Mendelssohn's most celebrated masterpieces alongside his Octet (Op. 20) and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Op. 61), from which the Wedding March is still the processional music choice of brides around the world.

Program Notes by Jonah Kim

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