Niels Wilhelm Gade - Trio op. 42, F major /Piano Trio, Op.29

 

Niels Gade

 

 

Niels Wilhelm Gade (22 February 1817 – 21 December 1890) was a Danish composer, conductor, violinist, organist and teacher. He is considered the most important Danish musician of his day.

 

Piano Trio op. 42, F major (violin, violoncello, piano)

 

 

1 Allegro animato
2 Allegro molto vivace
3 Andantino
4 Finale. Allegro con fuoco

Piano Trio, Op.29 

5] Novelletten (Piano Trio), Op. 29
(for violin, cello and piano)
I. Allegro scherzando
II. Andantino con moto
III. Moderato
IV. Larghetto con moto
V. Finale. Allegro

The editor of Cobbett's Cyclopedic Survey of Chamber Music had this to say (1929) when writing about Niels Gade's Novelletten:

"This is a prime favorite among amateurs seeking for pieces of moderate difficulty for public performance."

Absolutely correct. The five pieces that compose Gade's Novelletten are strong enough and still deserve public performance, yet amateurs will have no problems with them either.

Niels Gade (1817-1890) was born in Copenhagen and began his career as a concert violinist, later taking a position with the Royal Danish Orchestra. Mendelssohn, who was much impressed by and premiered Gade's First Symphony, invited him to teach at the famous Leipzig Conservatory. After Mendelssohn's death in 1847, Gade was appointed director of the Conservatory and also conductor of the Leipzig Gewandhaus orchestra. In 1848, he returned to Copenhagen the next year when war broke out between Prussia and Denmark. In Copenhagen, Gade became director of the Copenhagen Musical Society and established a new orchestra and chorus. He was widely regarded as Denmark's most important composer from the mid-Romantic period. He taught and influenced several Scandinavian composers, including Edvard Grieg, Carl Nielsen and Otto Malling. His own music often shows the influence of both Mendelssohn and Schumann.