©Jake Morley
©Jake Morley
(Event 7: Wed 8 Oct 2025 8.00pm Little Missenden Church)
Lucy Gould violin Richard Lester cello Benjamin Frith piano
Joseph Haydn Piano Trio no44 in E major Hob XV:28
Rebecca Clarke Piano Trio
Franz Schubert Piano Trio in E flat major op100 D929
Programme Notes will be available here and free at concert
Haydn wrote over 40 piano trios. Primarily for domestic performance, they nevertheless contain some of his most imaginative, adventurous and intensely lyrical music. The E major Piano Trio has a particularly fine central allegretto – seriously beautiful and underpinned by a running bass line – with flowing, song-like, movements either side.
Rebecca Clarke’s 1921 Piano Trio is widely regarded as a masterpiece and one of the most notable pieces of chamber music to emerge from a British composer in the 1920s. The first movement’s opening dissonances and the passion of its elegiac intensity suggest from the start that it’s Clarke’s response to the experience of the recently-ended world war, and the following andante (melancholy and contemplative) and closing allegro (at times vigorously warlike), only serve to reinforce that impression.
The E flat major Piano Trio is one of Schubert’s last, and greatest, works. Its length allows us to treat it with all the seriousness it deserves, but it’s also – wholly unsurprisingly – full of Schubertian melody. The simple but profoundly beautiful theme running through the andante recurs magically in the finale, blossoming into a joyful and positive ending.
“The only comparison that comes to mind is the old Beaux Arts Trio; the combination of jeweler-like precision and a musical fire that ignites from the first bar” The Washington Post
The Gould Piano Trio has been at the forefront of the international chamber music scene for over a quarter of a century. Launched by winning first prize at the Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition, they were European Concert Halls Organisation ‘Rising Stars’ and described by Strad Magazine as ‘Pure Gould’. Their many appearances at London’s Wigmore Hall have included the complete piano trios of Dvořák, Mendelssohn and Schubert, and they returned there to present a Beethoven Cycle in the 2022-2023 season.
The Trio’s passionate belief in the importance of developing new repertoire has resulted in them commissioning works from many contemporary composers, including Sir James MacMillan, Mark Simpson and, more recently, John Casken and Andrew Chen. They also maintain a lively relationship with promising young chamber players by giving masterclasses worldwide, particularly in association with the Guildhall School in London and the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in Cardiff.
Online booking is managed by TicketSource. This event may be booked from the Tickets link on this page but, when booking for multiple events, it may be more convenient to use our Little Missenden Festival page on TicketSource.
Wed 8 Oct 2025 8.00pm
Little Missenden Church
£30, £22, £12
Online booking is managed by TicketSource. This event may be booked from the Tickets link on this page but, when booking for multiple events, it may be more convenient to use our Little Missenden Festival page on TicketSource.