The word "nationalist" in music is a bit overused; it meant quite different things to
Chopin
,
Dvo¿ák
Bartók
, and
Luciano Berio
. The young
Neave Trio
heard here has developed a reputation for fresh programming, and their
Rooted
program delivers some unusual takes on the nationalist theme. The best-known work here is
Smetana
's
Piano Trio in G minor, Op. 15
, in which the composer bent the nationalist impulse toward his own private experiences. The work reflects the tragedy of the death of
's four-year-old daughter, but it does not abandon the Czech folk rhythms he was discovering, and the
keeps it moving and delivers full emotional impact in the drastic tempo shifts of the finale.
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor
Five Negro Melodies for piano trio
were adapted from a larger set of
African American spirituals
for voice and piano; they are intriguing and rarely heard pieces that make harmonic decisions different from those of African American arrangers. The
Petit Trio, Op. 2
, of
Josef Suk
is also not common; it shows the composer just at the point where he emerged from under the shadow of his father-in-law,
. Perhaps the highlight is the
Trio sur des mélodies populaires irlandaises
("
Trio on Popular Irish Melodies
") of
Frank Martin
, composed in 1925. Here, it is not even a question of
Martin
's own rootedness; he was Swiss, but this is an entirely new take on national music delicately rendered by the
. Sample the limpid slow movement, which is a real find, or the somewhat Impressionist gigue finale. The players strike the right tone throughout, restrained yet detailed, and they are ably captured by the
Chandos
label's engineers at Potton Hall in Suffolk. ~ James Manheim