Trio Gesellschaftslehre

The Neave Trio’s programme Rooted features a range of works based on folk music. Smetana’s distinctive nationalistic style was largely based on the inclusion of bohemian rhythmic and melodic elements, and he was acclaimed in his native Bohemia as the father of Czech music. His Trio in G minor was composed in 1855 as a response to the death of his four-year old daughter and shows the influence of Liszt.

Dvořák’s chamber music is amongst the most extensive and significant of the 19th-century and the four surviving piano trios embody his command of the form. The first two were written in rapid succession, with No. 1 in B flat major marrying Schubertian lyricism with Slavic inflexions, serenity with joy. No. 2 in G minor is rather more classically conceived though it shares the same formal structure as No. 1 and exudes a similar quotient of lyric beauty.

The group was founded in 1977 by bassist John Lindberg, violinist Billy Bang, and guitarist James Emery. Though they initially worked on improvisational playing and on their own compositions, they eventually began taking on commissions, as well as doing arrangements of other jazz musicians' works…

The Trio Zadig marks this Saint-Saëns anniversary year by presenting him not only as a composer but also as a transcriber of other composers’ works. Rameau’s Pièces de clavecin en concerts 1 and 5, together with Liszt’s Orpheus, both arranged by Saint-Saëns for piano trio, frame his own op. 92. This programme gives the listener the impression of travelling through both time and space, in the 18th and 20th centuries, in Hungary and in France. The Zadig trio remain true to their quest for unusual and unfamiliar repertoire; following the example of Voltaire’s hero, they continue their adventures in the world of chamber music.