Shostakovich's Piano Trio No. 2 is dedicated to his closest friend, Ivan Sollertinsky, a multi-talented writer who died unexpectedly during the trio's composition.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Both Shostakovich and Schnittke felt a strong connection to Austrian composer Alban Berg, particularly his use of musical quotation to bridge the past and a painful present.
Compositional Technique
The finale of Shostakovich's Piano Trio No. 2 features Jewish-inflected dance tunes, which build to an explosive climax before recalling earlier themes.
Composer Biography
Shostakovich's Piano Trio No. 1 was composed during a tumultuous period in his adolescence, marked by the Russian Revolutions, civil war, and his father's death.
Composition History
Shostakovich's Piano Trio No. 1 was originally renamed 'Poem' and dedicated to Tatiana Glivenko, with whom the 16-year-old composer fell in love while recuperating from tuberculosis.
Composition History
Alfred Schnittke's Piano Trio is an arrangement of his String Trio, which was commissioned for Alban Berg's centenary and written shortly before Schnittke suffered a series of strokes.
Performer Biography
Pianist Freddy Kempf, a member of the Kempf Trio, became the youngest winner of the BBC Young Musician of the Year Competition in 1992.
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