Maurice Ravel, unlike Debussy, was sociable and became a well-known figure in the Parisian music scene, despite failing five times to win the prestigious Prix de Rome.
Album & Artwork
The Feininger Trio is named after Lyonel Feininger, a painter, designer, and co-founder of the Bauhaus movement, whose former atelier was near the trio's rehearsal space in Berlin.
Composition History
Debussy's Piano Trio in G Major, his first chamber music work, was composed at the request of Nadezhda von Meck, a wealthy patron of the arts who employed him as a pianist during her summer travels.
Performer Biography
The Feininger Trio was founded in 2005 by pianist Adrian Oetiker and two members of the Berliner Philharmoniker: violinist Christoph Streuli and cellist David Riniker.
Historical Context
Maurice Ravel composed his Piano Trio in A Minor in 1914, during the outbreak of World War I, and volunteered for military service as a lorry driver.
Compositional Technique
Ravel's Piano Trio features innovative rhythmic and metric structures, including asymmetrical 8/8 time, a movement titled 'Pantoum' referencing a Malaysian verse form, and alternating 5/4 and 7/4 time in the finale.
Composer Biography
Claude Debussy, who never attended primary school, was initially considered a child prodigy at the piano but later failed to win a major prize at the Paris Conservatoire.
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Fauré, Ravel & Tailleferre
Debussy: Piano Trio in G Major, CD 5; Petite Suite, CD 71 / Ravel: Piano Trio in A Minor, M. 67
Luis de Pablo: Piano Trios
Copland: Vitebsk / Bernstein: Piano Trio / Piazzolla: Las Cuatros Estaciones Portenas / Collon: N
Shostakovich: Piano Trios Nos. 1 & 2; Alexander Blok Romances, Op. 127
Shostakovich: Piano Trios Nos. 1 and 2 / Seven Verses
