All three composers in this opening concert celebrate anniversaries in 2009.  1809 saw the birth of the child prodigy, Mendelssohn, and his Piano Trio in D minor, with its yearning melodies and playful scherzo, is a highlight in his relatively small output for chamber music with piano.  In stark contrast, Haydn, who died in 1809, wrote over forty piano trios.  His Trio in E Major, dedicated to Therese Bartolozzi (a pupil of Clementi) has a particularly extensive role for the keyboard.  The brooding drama of this trio’s interior movement is delightfully balanced by the refinement and elegance of the surrounding movements. 2009 also marks the 50^th anniversary of the death of Max D’Ollone.  His Piano Trio in A minor, composed in 1920, has a shimmering vivacity overlying striking sonorities and thick harmonic structures resulting in a powerfully rich and expressive work.

Concert 2 continues Trio Anima Mundi’s exploration of repertoire from the Romantic period. In Dvorak’s famous interpretation of the Slavic ‘dumka’, exuberance and lament are juxtaposed in this energetic and passionate six-movement work. Schumann’s music is also passionate and deeply veined but brings a more introspective and whimsical character to the age of Romanticism in this trio. Dubois had a remarkably brilliant career as a composer and educator, including a decade as the director of the Paris Conservatoire.  Like his friend Saint-Saëns, he eschewed impressionism, and his Piano Trio in C minor exemplifies the French romantic spirit – elegant, tuneful and full of beauty.

The first work to be designated a number or published – opus one – is a significant milestone in any composer’s output.  Beethoven’s set of three Opus 1 Piano Trios differed from those of his contemporaries in formal design and equality of the three instruments.  These works are some of his finest piano trios and became the foundation of a unique and progressive musical language which was to span another three decades. Claude Debussy’s Piano Trio in G, though not officially his opus one, was written at the tender age of eighteen – prior to his Prix de Rome award.  Unpublished until 1980, it contains tantalizing glimpses into Debussy’s early experimentation with musical colours and textures. Prussian born Hermann Goetz abandoned his studies in theology and mathematics to pursue music.  Taking his influences from Mozart and Mendelssohn his Piano Trio in G minor, Opus 1 is typical of his compositional style which abounds in lyrical beauty and great clarity.

GEELONG - 15th March 3.00 pm
St. Pauls’s Anglican Church, Latrobe Terrace, Geelong

BACCHUS MARSH - 3rd April 7.30 pm
Holy Trinity Anglican Church, 19a Gisborne Rd, Bacchus Marsh

MELBOURNE - 10th May - 2.00 pm
St. Michael’s Uniting Church, 120 Collins St., Melbourne

GEELONG - 2nd August - 3.00 pm
St. Paul’s Anglican Church, Latrobe Terrace, Geelong

BALLARAT - 7th August – 7.30 pm
Wendouree Centre for Performing Arts, 1220 Howitt St., Wendouree

MELBOURNE - 9th August - 2.00 pm
St. Michael’s Uniting Church, 120 Collins St., Melbourne

BALLAN - 30th October – 7.30 pm
Ballan Mechanics Hall, Inglis St. Ballan

GEELONG - 1st November 3.00 pm
St. Paul’s Anglican Church, Latrobe Terrace, Geelong

MELBOURNE - 8th November - 2.00pm
St. Michael’s Uniting Church, 120 Collins St., Melbourne