William Sterndale Bennett
Chamber Trio in A Op. 26
This Chamber Trio is a relatively early work, composed in 1839 when he was just 23.
It was published 6 years later in 1845.
I. Andante tranquillo ma con moto II. Serenade: Andante ma un poco scherzando III. Allegro fermo.
Sterndale Bennett’s Chamber Trio was written in 1839, after his second visit to Mendelssohn in Leipzig (where he also met with Schumann), but not published until six years later. In 1840 Bennett had written to his German publisher “You know what a dreadful place England is for music; and in London I have nobody who I can talk to about such things, all the people are mad with Thalberg and Johann Strauss, and I have not heard a single Symphony or Overture in one concert since last June. I sincerely hope that Prince Albert ... will do something to improve our taste.” The Trio, which exemplifies Bennett’s skill in combining the German romantic and British pastoral traditions, is deliberately written as a work for music lovers to perform and enjoy by themselves – hence its title.
A charming performance (the Slovak premiere of this work) by Jonathan Powell (piano), Igor Karsko (violin) and Jozef Luptak (cello) at the 2016 Indian Summer in Levoca Festival