Alkan - Piano Trio In G Minor Opus 30

Paris in 1837 attracted artists of all persuasions, not least of all some of the most well known names in classical music. Franz Liszt and Frédéric Chopin lived in the city, along with Charles Alkan. Alkan was a personal friend and neighbor of Chopin and the two composer/pianists spent much time together.

The majority of both composer's compositions are for piano solo or include the piano in ensemble.  Each wrote a handful of chamber music pieces early on in their careers which included a piano trio each. Chopin's Piano Trio In G Minor Opus 8 was published in 1829, Alkan's Piano Trio In G Minor Opus 30 was published in 1841 but may have been written earlier.  Both are written for the same combination of violin, cello and piano.

Alkan's Piano Trio is in 4 movements:

I.  Assez largement (Rather widely) - There is no doubt which instrument is the dominant one in Chopin's piano trio. Alkan also has the piano play a large role, but the two stringed instruments are closer to being active partners in music making. The first movement is in sonata form, but Alkan segues the sections almost imperceptibly. The piano begins the movement with a terse motive that the strings mimic after a few bars:

This plays out rather rapidly and leads to a short section of piano solo that leads into the second theme in B-flat major that is played by the violin with piano accompaniment:

This second theme is also taken up by the cello and the two stringed instruments have a short dialogue while the the piano plays a counter melody in the bass and continues to accompany in the right hand.  Then piano and violin join in a staccato flurry of sixteenth notes as the cello plays a fragment of the first theme:

This short section concludes the exposition of the movement and leads seamlessly to the development section. The two themes are played against each other until the development section and recapitulation merge into a type of hybrid with no clear delineation. A short coda has all three instruments pound out the note of G in triple forte.

II. Très vite (Very quickly) - A Beethovenian scherzo in G minor, the three instruments enter one at a time, all of them playing the note D, the piano in short staccatos, strings in pizzicato. The violin and piano join in a short motive while the cello plunks out an accompaniment:

Another eight bar phrase completes the section, which is repeated. The second part of the scherzo begins with the cello repeating the bare octave D's of the beginning while the piano plays running eighth notes. The violin takes turns with the cello playing octaves as the piano continues. The opening of the scherzo returns and is finished up by a short section with alternating octaves in the piano before the scherzo ends in a flurry. The trio section begins with the piano playing a short fugal section until the violin changes the mood with a melody in E-flat. The key changes to a short section in C minor until the scherzo is repeated. A short coda brings back the opening of the trio until a brilliant triple forte section is cut short by the quiet hint of a G minor chord.

III.  Lentement (Slowly) - Written in G major, the movement begins with the violin playing in double stops along with the cello. The theme is introspective, and continues until the piano interrupts with a section in G minor that is more agitated.  The piano goes silent again as the strings bring back the calm of the opening. The piano interrupts again, but not for as long. Slowly the three instruments start to blend together. The dialogue increases until the piano relents and joins in a chorale in tremolos with the strings.  The transfiguration is complete, the piano grows calm and then quiet as the movement ends in a whisper in the strings.

IV. Vite (Quickly) -  The piano part is as a perpetuum mobile as flurries of sixteenth notes spill out from the keyboard through most of the movement. The strings carry motives through the thicket of the piano until the key shifts to G major and the strings join in the scurry of sixteenth notes.

Röntgen - Cello Sonata No. 2 In A Minor, Opus 41

The list of teachers and acquaintances of Julius Röntgen reads like a who's who of 19th century classical music. He came from a family of musicians and showed tremendous natural musical ability early on. His father was a first violinist in the Gewendhaus Orchestra in Leipzig, and Julius' first piano teacher was Carl Reineke who was the music director of the orchestra. His talents were such that at age 14 he was invited to play for Franz Liszt in Wiemar.

While in Leipzig he became acquainted with Heinrich von Herzogenberg, and it was through him that he met Brahms. He also studied piano with Franz Lachner, the conductor and composer that was good friends with Franz Schubert. Röntgen became a professional pianist at 18, and eventually moved to Amsterdam where he worked to create the Amsterdam Conservatory as well as the Concertgebouw Orchestra. He was in demand as an accompanist for singers and instrumentalists and toured with two of his sons playing piano trios.

Pablo Casals

Röntgen retired from public life in 1924 and dedicated himself to composition, but he composed throughout his life. He had an inner drive to compose that began in 1864 when he was 9 years old, and wrote music  at every opportunity. His list of works is long (over 650 works with and without opus numbers) and covers all genres, but he is most well known for his chamber music. He wrote 18 various works for the combination of cello and piano during his life, beginning in 1872 with the first cello sonata, opus 3. He wrote his 2nd sonata for cello and piano in 1900.  Röntgen wrote some of the cello sonatas for Pablo Casals and also accompanied Casals in performances of them. Casals thought highly of Röntgen's cello sonatas and continued to play them long after the composers death in 1932.

Cello Sonata No. 2 In A Minor, Opus 41 is in 4 movements:

I. Allegro non troppo ed affettuoso - The sonata begins with an A minor theme that appears throughout the sonata.

The piano plays a restless accompaniment to this dark theme until it has a solo turn with the theme. Both instruments extend the theme until it plays directly into the second theme of the movement in C major:

This theme is echoed in the piano until the music shifts back to the darkness of the first theme. But the darkness doesn't last long, as the third theme appears:

After this brighter theme plays itself out, there is a short section that returns the mood to the beginning of the movement. These three themes constitute the exposition of the movement. The development section begins straightaway with the return of the first theme. A climax is reached as themes and fragments of themes weave in and out. The recapitulation section is collapsed within the development as there is no formal return of themes. A coda brings the movement to a hushed ending to a very poetic and individual type of sonata form.

II. Vivace, ma non troppo presto - Written in 6/8 time, this is a scherzo in all but name. It trips its way through music of lightness and humor, especially the slurred pizzicato notes in the cello. The first and third themes from the first movement make a brief appearance in altered form before the movement quickly ends.

III.  Adagio - The piano plays a chorale in full chords before the cello enters with an altered repeat of the first theme of the first movement. This theme and parts of it dominate the music of this movement as the chorale and theme intertwine and develop.

IV. Allegro agitato - The rhythm and movement of the first theme resembles the finale of Beethoven's Piano Sonata In D minor, opus 31, No. 2 'Tempest'.  The other themes of the movement take their turn with this one as Röntgen varies each one. The form is similar to the first movement, as the themes are worked out in a type of  development/recapitulation hybrid.