Mendelssohn-Hensel, Kodály, Dvořák

Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel
Piano Trio in D minor, Op. 11 (1840)

Zoltán Kodály
Duo for Violin and Cello (1914)

Antonín Dvořák
Piano Quartet in E-flat major, Op. 87 (1889)

Featured Musicians:

Robyn Bollinger, violin
Marcus Thompson, viola
Edward Arron, cello
Andrew Armstrong, piano

Nimble and balanced, Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel’s Piano Trio in D minor was, bittersweetly, a posthumous publication. The piece’s rich themes and harmonic structure demonstrate the composer’s top-notch training and deft musical intuition.

Zoltán Kodály’s Duo for Violin and Cello reflects the groundbreaking ethnomusicological research in Hungarian folk music undertaken by Kodály and Béla Bartók before World War I. Characterized by falling fourths and rising seconds, the opening theme and its countless variations drive this piece, one of the few written for violin and cello duo.

Antonín Dvořák wrote of his Piano Quartet in E-flat major, “The melodies just surged upon me.” Uniting all of the instruments featured in this program, this work is the result of a man at the peak of his compositional faculties.