This year, Canada's renowned Gryphon Trio celebrates its 25th anniversary. Also this year, I celebrate my 25th year of attending the Festival of the Sound! Great -- that means we're all the same youthful age!
Yeah -- right.
Because the festival in Parry Sound exactly coincides with the Ottawa chamber music festival, of which the Gryphons' cellist Roman Borys is artistic director, we now get only one concert a year with this splendid ensemble.
This year, it came on Sunday afternoon, and consisted of two classical works -- a piano trio in G minor by Haydn and the famous B-flat major trio, Op. 97, The Archduke, by Beethoven.
One of the reasons I'm always ready to encounter works by Haydn which I do not already know is the amazing variety of musical ideas which this ever-productive composer generated. Textbooks of musical form usually have to avoid using Haydn as their example, because he so rarely conforms to textbook notions of "good form." Not only that, but he manages to find so many different and intriguing new forms of his own in so many of his works.
The opening movement of this trio, composed in 1793, is a perfect example of Haydn at his most inventive. Generally it is agreed by the textbooks that a good 18th-19th century opening movement will be in sonata form, while the forms of theme and variations or rondo are most suited to a final movement.
So what does Haydn do here? He opens his trio with a rondo, which proves to be in fact a theme and variations type of movement with two themes, the main theme in G minor and the contrasting episode in G major, each subjected to variation treatment in alternating sections with the other. Genius at play!
I especially enjoyed the wistful, almost reminiscent air which the Gryphons brought to this movement, since Haydn did not often employ minor keys for the same kinds of dramatic purposes as one often finds in Mozart or Beethoven.
The shorter second movement was solemn without becoming sombre, and the lively finale wrapped the work up satisfactorily with a rousing crescendo on the final cadential phrases.
Beethoven's Archduke Trio (so-called because of the dedication to his patron and composition student, the Archduke Rudolf) stands as one of the cornerstones of the piano trio repertoire. It was written in 1811, at the same time that Beethoven was at work on his Symphony No. 7, but don't look for similarities. This music is not a symphony in disguise, but is entirely apt to its medium.
It was incidentally, the final work Beethoven performed himself in public as his deafness overcame him.
I mentioned the coincident timing of the symphony, because it would be all too easy to play the trio in a heavyweight manner. The Gryphons tackled the score with ample energy, but kept at all times a light, clear, almost Haydnesque tone in their playing. This brought the work firmly into line with its predecessor which we had already heard, and emphasized the tradition behind the score more than the innovation within it.
The singing tone which the players brought to the andante cantabile movement was a particular delight. It all added up to a very fine performance of the trio, and a truly delightful afternoon with the classical masters. Thank you, Gryphon Trio, for once again sharing your art with us.
PS See you on our 30th?
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