Catalogue Connection: 25102

As to chamber music this has to be the CD of the year and, perhaps, many years to come. It is a delightful double disc of unusual piano trios, beautifully played and very well recorded.

This trio hail from Melbourne and were formed in 2008 and have presented an annual subscription concert series ever since. They have been described as a trio of vitality, charm and aplomb. So be it, but that welcome accolade is inadequate in itself.

They have a wide repertoire and this, in itself, is highly commendable and sets them apart. Composers include Elfrida, Andrea, Babajanian , Bernstein, Dubois , Farranc , Ferdinand, Goetz , James Hobson , Juon , Komanetsky , Turina and Walton. They also play the standard repertoire.

The British composer William Hurlstone lived from 1876 to 1906 and studied with Stanford at the Royal College of Music. Hurlstone wrote a piano concerto and a piano sonata, a trio for clarinet, bassoon and piano, among other things.

His music is of high quality but achieved no fame. He died of bronchial asthma.

This Piano Trio is in four movements, allegro moderato in 3/4 time, an andante in E, molto vivace in 6/4 time in G, and an allegro commodo in common time which hovers between B flat and G minor.

This excellent ensemble avoids playing the first movement as a waltz or like a Palm Court Orchestra. Its simplicity is disarming and there is a welcome simplicity. The slow movement is gentle but not weak and the third movement is both humorous and cheerful and the finale sometimes sparkles.

It may not be great music but I know a lot of music that is said to be great but is not as good as this.

Miriam Hyde was am Australian composer who lived from 1913 to 2005. Her work may be well-known in Australia but not elsewhere. This trio is an attractive unassuming piece played with affection and devotion.

Max d’Ollone lived from 1875 to 1959. He won the Prix de Rome in 1897 for his cantata Fredegone and composed operas ballets, cantatas, lyric dramas and comedy ones as well. He taught at the Paris Conservatoire from 1922 and one of his students was the Swiss composer, Willy Burkhard.

D’Ollone’s Trio is in four movements, allegro non troppo e ben deciso , which is sometimes passionate, an adagio in 12/8 with chords of tenths in the left hand. There are some succulent harmonies but the piano part lacks variety in the adagio and, perhaps, the movement is a little too long. The scherzo is mainly in E and is fun although the momentum is lost. The finale is also in 6/8 with some effective modulations.

Despite its shortcomings, it is wonderfully played. This is a top flight ensemble and they are to be highly commended on their repertoire.

The first of Dag Wiren’s two piano trios completes this recital. He was born in 1905 and died in 1986. He has five symphonies and five string quartets to his name, three concertos for violin, cello and piano respectively, stage works and nine film scores dating from 1942 to 1961.

The worrying thing about his music is its lack of development, such as you get in Schubert, and, sometimes, his music is brief as if he has run out of ideas. This is evident in this score. The first two movements are very good with an excellent piano part but convention sets in with the third movement, a fughetta at one minute 12 seconds, and a passacaglia .

That aside, the playing is sumptuous; the texture superb; the balance impeccable and we are in the presence of three amazing musicians. They are not out to be showmen but to be faithful to the music which they are.

This is the chamber music disc of the year. You will lose out if you do not buy it.

I cannot recommend it highly enough. Nor, I suggest, can anyone else.

This pair of discs on the Divine Art label brings together four consistently attractive works that defy the fashion of their times in adopting a firmly tonal idiom and conventional musical structures.

William Hurlstone was a short-lived composer of great promise who died in 1906 when barely 30. His Piano Trio is immaculately constructed, using clearly identifiable if not terribly memorable themes, with a warmly lyrical slow movement leading to a witty scherzo marked by crisp cross-rhythms, and rounded off with a chattering finale. Miriam Hyde (1913-2005), born in Australia but working for many years in England, wrote her Fantasy Trio early in her career in London, no doubt influenced by the concept laid down for the Cobbett Prize. It is an attractive, varied work, nine minutes long with not a wasted note.

The little-known Max d’Ollone (1879-1959) was a French composer of noble birth who studied with Massenet and who, for a brief period (1940-44) during the Nazi occupation, was director of the Opéra-Comique in Paris. The first movement of his Piano Trio brings luxuriant writing, very well argued, leading to a mysterious slow movement and a witty scherzo with stuttering repeated notes.

Last on the second disc comes Dag Wirén’s Piano Trio No. 1 in four compact movements. This is the most light-hearted of the four works offered, largely because of the crisp brevity of the ideas of this Swedish composer (1905-86), with a jaunty first movement leading to an Adagio with an easy, flowing main theme moving by step. The scherzo brings delicate piano-writing, brilliantly executed by the pianist, Kenji Fujimura, with a slow central Trio section, leading finally to a jolly, dance-like finale in a sort of hornpipe rhythm.

ltogether four welcome works, beautifully recorded in well-balanced sound, with consistently affectionate performances.

Here is a highly attractive quartet of early 20th-century piano trios, all written in a Romantic vein, by little-known composers from four countries: England, Australia, France, and Sweden. None of these works is identified as a world premiere recording, but I find no others for the Hyde and d’Ollone trios.

Arthur Lintgen didn’t think much of William Hurlstone’s music, including this Trio, in his assessment of an all-Hurlstone disc (Fanfare 31:5, May/June 2008), but I beg to differ. The opening sweeps in with a richly Romantic, memorable theme that sounds like it could have come from a lost work of Brahms. The second theme too is highly appealing and the subject of much interesting development. The entire first movement never flags in its momentum and provides a continuous sonic bath of sumptuous sound. The remaining three movements are not quite on the same level of inspiration, but there’s still plenty to admire.

Long-lived Miriam Hyde, one of the pioneering composers in Australia, was born the year Le Sacre du printemps was premiered and died 92 years later, but “it was Hyde’s intention that her com­positions be a refuge of peace and beauty … [she] remained to the end of her life within a pastoral, romantic genre,” writes Rosalind Appleby in her volume about Australian composers, Women of Note. Hyde’s single-movement Fantasy Trio is hardly pastoral, but it is certainly Romantic, densely-textured and warmly melodic in the manner of Tchaikovsky or Brahms.

Max d’Ollone (Maximilien-Paul-Marie-Felix d’Ollone, to give him his full name) is a new one to me, but on the basis of his Piano Trio I’m going to be on the lookout for more of his music. The opening grabs you immediately – a powerful, wide-reaching subject that pervades the entire four-movement structure in many guises. The cyclic element isn’t the only reminder of Franck. The har­mony too brings the older, better-known figure to mind. The slow movement in particular glows and throbs with an inner light suggestive of religious fervor and transcendent spirituality. The Finale races along in tarantella rhythm to a surprise ending.

Probably the least-unknown of these four composers to most Fanfare readers is Dag WirÉn. The stand-out movement here is the first, filled with relentless energy and intricate intertwining of the three instrumental lines. Following a somewhat discordant yet rhythmically vital opening we encounter a mournful, Eastern-European influenced folk tune of haunting beauty. The third movement is a one-minute moto perpetuo of sparkling delicacy, while the Finale provides near-virtuosic writing for the piano in its highly energized writing. That quasi-folk tune from the first movement makes reappearances in later movements, conferring further unity on this fine work.

Trio Anima Mundi is a Melbourne-based ensemble in existence since 2008. The two string players – violinist Rochelle Ughetti and cellist Miranda Brockman – are or were members of the Melbourne Symphony, and pianist Kenji Fujimura is a well-established, award-winning teacher and composer as well. He also provided the exemplary program notes, essential to an undertaking of this sort. Individually they are all highly accomplished artists; collectively they make a tightly-knit and musically unified team. Brockman’s cello playing in particular I find mesmerizing; it reminds me of Jacqueline du Pré for her big, swashbuckling sound and passionate intensity.

The total timing of nearly 84 minutes means spreading the music over two discs, but the prod­uct is priced as a single. The acoustic setting is full and spacious, and serves the musicians well as they all have highly appealing sounds. Whether or not you are on the lookout for something new and different, this release is a top recommendation.

The Australian based Trio Anima Mundi was founded in 2008 and has since become a regular part of Melbourne’s chamber music life with their annual themed subscription concerts series that bring an eclectic mix of repertoire from the great masters to little-known works. The Trio’s members are Kenji Fujimura (piano), Rochelle Ughetti (violin), Miranda Brockman (cello).

One can only be impressed at the variety of works in their repertoire that encompasses works from the great classics to contemporary and includes composers as diverse as Bach, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven and Brahms, through Bernstein, Copland, Debussy, Turina and Walton to Elfrida Andrée and Arno Babajanian.

To this we must add the names of William Hurlstone, Miriam Hyde, Max d’Ollone and Dag Wirén whose works for piano trio appear on Trio Anima Mundi’s debut recording entitled Romantic Piano Trios , just released by Divine Art Recordings . This new disc has something of an international flavour with composers from Britain, Australia, France and Sweden.

A near contemporary of Vaughan Williams , William Hurlstone (1876-1906) was one of the great losses to British music, dying at a young age. He studied under Stanford at the Royal College of Music and went on to become their youngest Professor of Harmony and Counterpoint. His compositions include a piano concerto, orchestral works and a number of chamber works including his Piano Trio in G major , written in 1905, and which appears on this new recording.

The Allegro moderato opens with a real romantic waltz that soon gives way to a faster section with rhythmic piano phrases over the strings. The music alternates between the slower theme and the romantic waltz theme with much fine invention. It is lovely the way Hurlstone shares the themes around the instruments. The piano opens the Andante before the strings join in a melancholy little melody. This attractive movement is so well written for the various instruments with some lovely harmonies and timbres so well brought out by the Trio Anima Mundi. There is a lightly dancing scherzo, Molto vivace , full of life with a beautiful trio section before the Allegro comodo that has an attractive theme that permeates the whole movement and a second subject that has the nature of a Scottish Air. The movement rushes to the coda with a fine flourish.

There is playing of much warmth and understanding from the Trio Anima Mundi.

The Australian composer Miriam Hyde (1913-2005) wrote over 150 compositions including orchestral works, instrumental works, songs and piano works. She won an AMEB (Australian Music Examinations Board) scholarship at the age of twelve to the Elder Conservatorium, Adelaide as a pupil of William Silver, who remained her tutor until 1931. She later won the Elder Overseas Scholarship that enabled her to study at the Royal College of Music, London with Arthur Benjamin and Gordon Jacob.

As a concert pianist she performed with conductors such as Sir Malcolm Sargent, Constant Lambert, Georg Schnéevoigt, Sir Bernard Heinze and Geoffrey Simon. She was also a published poet and wrote an autobiography. Given that 2013 is her centenary year, it is good to have a recording of her Fantasy Trio , Op.26 for violin, cello and piano, written in 1933.

It is a romantic work, reflecting her preference for such a style. Though such a piece would have found itself out of fashion in 1933, this no longer matters given the passage of time. In one movement, it opens purposefully with a lovely flowing melody before slowing to a more thoughtful section. There is some lovely invention here, attractively shared by the instruments. There is no lack of drama and interest in its nine minutes. Halfway through the music again slows to a beautiful interlude, before the music returns to the opening theme that leads to the coda.

Maximilien-Paul-Marie-Félix d’Ollone (1875-1959) was born in Besançon, France and studied at the Paris Conservatoire with Alexandre Lavignac, Jules Massenet, André Gedalge and Charles Lenepveu, winning the Prix de Rome in 1897. His works encompass opera and ballet as well as the Trio for piano, violin and cello in A minor included on this disc .

An anxious sounding, forward thrusting theme announces the Allegro ma non troppo e ben deciso but this soon gives way to a slower theme, a very attractive rising and falling motif with some lovely rippling passages from the piano. Though dating from 1920, this trio shows that d’Ollone was obviously a romantic at heart. The Trio Anima gives such taut, expressive playing. After more forward driving music there is a tranquil reflective section before a decisive coda. The piano opens the darker, melancholy Adagio before a wistful string melody appears. Halfway through there is a lovely passage for piano before a string melody above a rippling piano motif that weaves its way to a subdued conclusion.

The Scherzo: Allegro brings some terrifically fine playing from the Trio Anima, with fine ensemble and dynamics in this light rhythmic opening. Soon a slow section arrives with a tentative theme before the two themes combine as the music tries to move forward. The light rhythmic theme soon takes over to end this movement.

An unsettled theme opens the Finale: Presto , rushing forward with some particularly fine playing from Kenji Fujimura as the music hurtles on, swaying to and fro as it does. Halfway through the strings bring a slightly more restrained feel but the piano drives the music forward to end this Trio.

Dag Wirén (1905-1986) achieved a certain fame in the UK when the final Marcia movement of his Serenade for String Orchestra Op.11 was used as the theme tune to the BBC arts programme Monitor . He was born into a musical family in the region of Bergslagen and studied composition at the State Academy of Music in Stockholm before continuing his studies in Paris, where he was greatly influenced by neo classicism, Les Six and Stravinsky. Other influences were Nielsen and Sibelius. His compositions include a number of ballets, choral works, songs, five symphonies, concertos, instrumental works and chamber works of which the Piano Trio No.1 , Op.6 (1932) features here.

A seemingly unstoppable Allegro surges forward in music that surprisingly sounds more advanced than the other works on this disc. Soon a second subject appears, slower and more thoughtful, even sombre in nature. Rippling piano scales lift the music back to the original theme where there is some terrific playing from the Trio Anima, with superb ensemble. The second subject returns, with an almost Slavic flavour before the music rushes to the end. When the Adagio arrives it feels as though the music has picked up on the sombre nature of the second subject of the first movement with music of dark strength with an inexorable feel to it as it develops passionately. This is a great piece.

The brief Fughetta is light and rhythmic, showing, again, the fine accomplishment of this Trio. The piano picks out a quiet theme against pizzicato strings in the opening of the Alla Passacaglia. This quickly leads into a mournful melody before a rhythmic motif from the piano heralds a faster section that develops its contrapuntal theme with some difficult individual string passages. The music slowly develops through a series of variants before a scintillating coda.

This is a fascinating and rewarding disc with excellent playing from the Trio Anima Mundi. The recording from the Music Auditorium, Sir Zelman Cowen School of Music, Monash University, Melbourne is excellent. There are informative booklet notes by the trio’s pianist, Kenji Fujimura.

The Melbourne-based Trio Anima Mundi was formed in 2008 and this is its debut album. Its programme has been drawn from its first four themed seasons of concerts: Hurlstone from an English music feature, d’Ollone from a clutch of Prix de Rome prizewinners, Wirén from a ‘Nordic Lights’ series and Hyde from ‘Visions of Femininity’.

The best piece comes first: the soaring cello melody opening William Hurlstone’s Piano Trio in G launches a movement as memorable and perfectly proportioned as anything by Brahms. Its side-slipping modulations may remind you of Dohnányi, without the last ounce of that master’s sly humour, while the scherzo – the next best movement – recalls Dvorak quite as much as the booklet’s suggestion of Schubert. The finale, earnestly throwing a fugato into the mix, opens and stays in the tonic minor, just as does the Mendelssohn ‘Italian’. Hurlstone (1876-1906) was one of the few composition pupils unreservedly admired by the rarely satisfied Stanford: his early death (after a lifetime plagued by ill-health) was mourned far and wide. He composed much, nevertheless: both the listed all-Hurlstone rival versions offer the Piano Quartet, the two-disc Lyrita also the Piano Concerto. The catalogue also sports multiple versions of works for clarinet and bassoon with piano. The new Trio performance is excellent and persuasive, it at times rhythmically unyielding; the spacious recording makes the strings sound less edgy than the rival versions, particularly the close-miked Tunnells. Anima Mundi pianist Kenji Fujimura, here and throughout, throws off the requisite cascades of notes with due panache, albeit with some unrelieved fortes (particularly in sequences of accents) in places where Dussek and Tunnell find more sensitive shaping.

Miriam Hyde’s Fantasy Trio completes a short first disc. Adelaide-born Hyde (1913-2005) studied at the Royal College of Music for three years with Gordon Jacob and compatriot Arthur Benjamin, finding time to appear as soloist in the premiere of her own two piano concertos and – inspired by the influential Cobbett chamber-music Prize requirement (a one-movement, less-than-ten-minute Fantasy) to complete this trio in 1933. (She came second in the Cobbett the following year.) Trio artists looking for a short concert opener should note that purely as an an overture, this fervidly Franckian outpouring may not fill the bill. The booklet postulates the influence of Rachmaninov, slight here where discernible at all. The recapitulation seems severely truncated, distorting the overall proportion of an otherwise fine if unmemorable work.

The second disc opens with the full-scale (four-movements, 29-minutes) Trio in A minor by Prix de Rome prizewinner d’Ollone: full Christian name Maximilien-Paul-Marie-Felix, magnificent but prudently shortened (here as elsewhere) to Max. As with Hyde, Franck is a strong influence on the turbulent first movement; the exquisitely serene second recalls Faure. Rochelle Ughetti and Miranda Brockman seem reluctant at times to drop into the background, while Fujimura, fearlessly negotiating a bristling piano part up there with that of the Franck Violin Sonata, nevertheless makes a plain creature out of the Molto tranquillo theme from 3’36” embedded in the cascading figuration. I could imagine just this moment being better done, but there seem to be no rival CD versions anywhere. The scherzo flirts with whole-tone scales; the closing ‘Tarantella’ has a catchy chromatic ‘tag’ hut frustratingly stops just when you thought it would settle down to some serious development.

Dag Wirén, possibly the best-known composer here on account of his perennially fresh Serenade for strings, produced his concise First Trio (tour movements, 15 minutes) in 1932. This too is a delight, though the ticking of composition-student boxes reaches its apogee in the finale, whose main theme (first heard in the opening movement and in constant attendance between times) is scrupulously augmented, inverted and – what’s the word? – stretto’d. Wirén later developed this cyclic-theme treatment into an official ‘metamorphosis technique’; meanwhile he liked this particular theme so much that he carried it – or its near-identical first cousin – into his next opus, the delectable and little-known Sinfonietta, Op. 7. Op. 6 is in a key ungrateful for strings, C sharp minor, provoking just one fleeting passage of discomfort in the finale. Elsewhere , and throughout, these performances form the most impressive of debuts, the Wirén even outclassing the more-effortful-all-round Stockholm players (on a nevertheless treasurable all-Wirén chamber disc).

Dropping the Hyde would have brought the total playing time to within the range of a single CD, but generously these two new discs are offered for the price of one. Those Trio Anima Mundi concert series included mouth-watering items by Ireland, Stanford, Theodore Dubois, Niels Gade, Louise Farrenc and Elfrida Andrée: I eagerly await their appearance on future albums, meanwhile strongly recommending this release to lovers of fine playing and unjustly neglected repertoire.

It testifies to this music’s sheer obscurity that the most prominent name here belongs to Australia’s own Miriam Hyde, who, far from being a mere keyboard miniaturist, brought substantial panache to larger forms. Her early, single-movement Fantasy-Trio (1933) suggests a Brahms-Elgar collaboration, not quite worthy of either master’s best writing, but eminently suited to revival.

The other three composers are English (William Hurlstone), French (Max d’Ollone), and Swedish (Dag Wiren). Hurlstone – one of Stanford’s favourite pupils – died in 1906, aged just 30. No tentativeness mars his half-hour, Trio in G. To (again) Brahms’ and Elgar’s influences, he adds a faculty for individual caprice. Goodness knows what he might have achieved with a decent lifespan.

D’Ollone (1875-1959), a Prix de Rome winner, studied with Massenet. His 1920 trio oscillates between Franckian strenuousness and Ravelian sensuality, implying in the process that these two idioms unexpectedly overlap. Diffuse beside the Hurlstone – where not a phrase is wasted – it possesses compensatory inventive charm. Has an Limelight reader encountered one of d’Ollone’s eight (!) operas?

As for Wiren (1905-86); several million British householders discovered his output when BBC television – then black-and-white – made a sardonic little string-orchestra march by him into a signature tune. “Sardonic” also describes the present composition (1932, four movements), where the crisp taste of Hindemithian gin-and-bitters will cleanse palates after the refined nostalgia elsewhere.

Consistently expert performances, from three Australia-based musicians, do everything full justice. The recorded sound – the venue: Monash University’s music department – is clean, if a bit too dry. A delightfully instructive release all the same. ****

This collection is titled “Romantic Piano Trios”, but it might be better described as post-romantic, since these works were all composed in the early 20th Century. None is terribly dissonant, but they do reflect some of the modernistic trends of that time.

Hurlstone’s trio, in its texture and use of distant key relationships, suggest Brahms; and Miriam Hyde’s Fantasy Trio hints at Faure. Max d’Ollone’s Trio, while harmonically conservative for its time, is texturally and melodically inventive. According to the notes, he was influenced by Wagner, but this piece sounds more like impressionism to me. Dag Wiren’s Trio resembles Prokofieff and includes many lovely moments, most notably a brief but charming Fughetta and an exhilarating Finale.

The renditions are very good, but not quite perfect; a few flaws can be heard in the most demanding string passages. The tone is exce­lent, however, and the interpretations bring out the freshness of the works. I am pleased that this ensemble chose to release a fine recording of neglected works rather than another average recording of familiar ones.

This CD explores four pieces of music by a diverse group of composers, none of whom is particularly well-known. The quality of their music is impressive and deserves to be in the repertoire. I will stick my neck out and suggest that Max D’Ollone’s Trio in A minor is one of the best works in this genre that I have heard: it is my chamber music discovery of the year-so far.

MusicWeb International has provided an excellent biography of William Hurlstone, which is tailored to an understanding of the present work. However three brief points can be made here to provide context for this review. Firstly, there is anecdotal evidence to suggest that Charles Villiers Stanford regarded him as his ‘best pupil’. Secondly, Hurlstone was both composer and pianist – he performed in his own Piano Concerto. Lastly, he was happiest when composing chamber works of which there are many: most remain unrecorded and un-played in our time.

There is an openness and optimism about Hurlstone’s Trio in G major for piano and strings. This work was seemingly written around 1904/5 and was published posthumously. The Trio was declared by the composer Richard Walthew as being ‘happy and genial throughout’ and displaying considerable craft and workmanship.

From the very first bars of the opening ‘allegro moderato’ this work reveals its ‘untroubled mood of optimism’. The principle themes are ‘Schubertian’ in their lyrical structure and rarely lead to a display of great tension or contrast. The ‘andante cantabile’ has been described as exhibiting John Milton’s ‘linked sweetness long drawn out’. It is a truly expressive movement that soothes away any troubles and cares. The scherzo, ‘molto vivace’ is a breezy piece, at least in the ‘minuet’ sections. The ‘trio’ is hardly more serious, with its temporary mood of repose rather than serious change of mood. The finale, ‘allegro comodo’ makes use of a Scottish – not Scotch, which is a drink – air. Hurlstone uses this tune thoughtfully and does not make it into an exhibition of ‘tartanry’.

The Trio in G major is one of those works that is hard to describe in terms of other composers. There is nothing modern or even post-romantic about this music. The composer is in a direct line from Schubert with nods to Brahms and Dvorák along the way: it is none the worse for that. This Trio is one of the finest and most enjoyable examples of the genre.

I have not come across the Australian composer Miriam Hyde. Currently, she is only represented by three compositions in the Arkiv Catalogue. Hyde was born in Adelaide on 15 January 1913. After gaining her Bachelor of Music degree she journeyed to London where she studied with Arthur Benjamin and Gordon Jacob at the Royal College of Music. She was also an accomplished pianist and around this time gave performances of her own Piano Concerto. Most of her life was spent teaching, composing, performing music and writing poetry. Miriam Hyde died in 2005.

The Fantasy Trio was composed in London during 1933 and may have been influenced by the unique genre created by the demands of the Cobbett Prize. Interestingly, Hyde took second prize in this competition in 1934 with her ‘Phantasy’ for string quartet.

Her one movement Trio is a well-structured work that explores a number of moods. Of particular interest is the considerable tension between the choppy opening theme and serene middle section. Critics appear to have struggled a little in defining her style. The liner-notes allude to Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninov: her music is described elsewhere as being impressionistic, romantic and pastoral. Nevertheless, I believe that the romantic ‘note’ is the most appropriate. This attractive Fantasy Trio is the ideal companion piece to Hurlstone’s offering.

Neither have I come across the composer Max d’Ollone. I am beholden to the liner-notes for information about both man and music. However, these notes do not state that d’Ollone was a French composer born in Besançon in the Franche-Compté region of France. He died in Paris in 1959. After a precocious start to his career, he entered the Paris Conservatoire aged 6 – he was encouraged by many of France’s senior composers including Gounod, Massenet and Delibes. He held a number of important positions including conductor and director of the Concerts Populaires d’Angers, director of the Ministère des Beaux Artes, and director of the Opéra-Comique. Academic positions included professor of music at the Paris Conservatoire and director of the American Conservatoire at Fontainebleau.

Max d’Ollone’s portfolio of compositions is largely dedicated to the theatre, the opera house and the ballet. Beside the operas there are a number of scores for orchestral, chamber and instrumental forces.

The present Trio in A minor was composed in 1920. This is a hugely romantic work that is full of beautiful post-Wagnerian melodies and harmonies. The formal structure of the work appears to be a subtle balance between ‘traditional forms’ and the use of a cyclical motive. The tunes pour out in great profusion and with huge vitality. The Trio is in four movements.

Dag Wirén, born in Striberg near Stockholm in 1905, is hardly known outwith his native Sweden. Certainly in the United Kingdom, he is basically a ‘one hit wonder’ to use that dreadful Classic FM concept. I guess that everyone has heard the ‘Marcia’ from his Serenade for Strings which was used in the BBC programme Monitor . Yet, he has written a wide range of music including five symphonies, concertos for violin, piano and cello and a wide range of chamber music.

The present Trio is a work that I would not have claimed as ‘romantic’. On the other hand, it is not ‘modernist’ or dependent on serialism. It was composed in Paris at a time when the composer had come under the influence of Igor Stravinsky, Sergei Prokofiev and some members of ‘Les Six’. The Trio is concise, full of rhythmic energy, contrasting with introverted, dark contrapuntal explorations and neo-baroque constructions. The work’s acerbity is epitomised by the extremely short, concise ‘fughetta’ which makes up the ‘scherzo’.

I have not heard the Trio Anima Mundi before reviewing this CD. They are based in Melbourne, Australia and have been making significant contributions to chamber music in that city since 2008. They have a considerable repertoire, often playing the works of the established masters as well as exploring lesser-known music. The three soloists Kenji Fujimura, Miranda Brockman and Rochelle Ughetti are all established players in their own right. For the curious ‘Anima Mundi’ translates from the Latin as the modest title ‘Soul of the World!’ As I understand it, this is their first CD.

The presentation of this disc is ideal. The sound quality is excellent. I enjoyed the committed playing and consider that the Trio Anima Mundi truly responds to this ‘romantic’ music: they are in their element. The liner-notes, which are written by Kenji Fujimura, are informative and give sufficient information about the composers and the music.

It is a little unusual for there to be two CDs of such relatively short duration in what is not really a ‘double album’. However, it would not have been possible to cram all four works onto one disc. What work would have been omitted? From my point of view I would not like to have lost any of these pieces. Could they have found another piece to ‘fill up’ the first disc? I guess that at a price of £7.95 this really counts as one CD – that has had to be ‘stretched’ a little.

This is a fine debut release. I think that they have been extremely courageous in issuing this disc of ‘discoveries’. It would have been so easy to have recorded a couple of ‘pot-boilers’ to ensure sales. As it is, TAM deserves support from all enthusiasts of Commonwealth composers and chamber music specialists.

This was a late arrival on my list, featuring four essentially unknown works in my favourite chamber music genre. John France, in his review, made what I thought at the time was an over-the-top comment about the d’Ollone trio: “one of the best works in this genre that I have heard”. Having now heard it, I can see what he means. I might not go as far as he does, but it is certainly quite wonderful. The Wiren is also very impressive in its varying moods, while the Hurlstone, at over 30 minutes, is the longest piece by far, but also the weakest.

Recording of the Year 2013

This is a two-disc set, but it is only the opening work on the first disc that concerns us: Hurlstone’s Piano Trio in G Major , a work composed in 1905. At times in the first movement, Allegro Moderato , it is reminiscent of Brahms, whilst its third movement Molto Vivace could be described as “elfin.” The performance here is a convincing one, with a generally warm and lyrical reading of the Trio. I have a few small quibbles – pianist Kenji Fujimara needs to give more to the bass, as the texture is not quite properly underpinned, whilst violinist Miranda Brockman’s sound is slightly brittle and, in the second movement Andante in particular, comes over as rather constricted. Otherwise, this is a version that I am happy to recommend.

This is Trio Anima Mundi’s debut recording and what is fabulous about it – aside from the strong performances of each work – is that there is no Beethoven or Brahms in sight on an album titled Romantic Piano Trios . Instead, we have four magnificent trios written in the early twentieth century, but in the style of the Romantics. It starts with William Hurlstone’s ‘Piano Trio’ composed in 1905. Plagued with ill health and the constant need to support himself financially, he was nonetheless considered by those that knew him as one of the most brilliant composers of the time. He’s sadly overlooked now, and when I listened to this work I could see no reason why this rich music should be neglected. Almost tacked on to the end of CD one is the Miriam Hyde ‘Fantasy Trio’. It’s only ever been recorded once but a friend of mine waxed lyrical about a performance they had heard. Only one movement, it feels like a series of vignettes of musical ideas flowing gently from one to the other.

Once you get to the second CD, you are greeted by Max d’Ollone, a French composer. Active during the avant-garde period, he wasn’t very popular because of his traditional style. I particularly like the way Trio Anima Mundi lets the melody line be at the forefront of the texture so the accompaniment doesn’t swamp the music.

The final work is ‘Piano Trio No.1′ by Dag Wirén. Comparatively unusual in his use of rhythm, he lets the more contemporary ideas influence his music more than the other composers. If you are a fan of the Beethoven and Brahms string quartets, I would highly recommend you immerse yourself in these works as they owe a lot to those masters, as well as the composers’ own geniuses. They’re interesting, accessible and, best of all, performed by our very own local musicians.

The fledgling [ sic ] British label Divine Art deserves praise for this release – a double CD with four piano trios by Romantic composers, not very well known to many: the Briton William Hurlstone , the Australian Miriam Hyde , Frenchman Max d’ Ollone and Swede Dag Wirén. Max d’ Ollone was a pupil of Jules Massenet and a contemporary of Richard Strauss, and not an insignificant composer. His Trio in A minor, is a late Romantic and avant-garde work with harmonic boldness and rhythmic finesse.

The Trio Anima Mundi are at home in the sweeping gestures and the rich sound of the romantically embossed “Fantasy Trio “, Opus 26 by Miriam Hyde, which shows a fascination for Russian Romantics (Rachmaninov , Tchaikovsky ) and some influences of the music of the Aborigines. The G major trio of Stanford student William Hurlstone is lively , humorous and adapts aesthetically to the musical language of his fellow students such as Ralph Vaughan Williams, John Ireland and Gustav Holst. The most advanced musical language in these four works is Dag Wiréns Piano Trio No. 1, Op 6 – an original work full of vitality and sassy harmony The interaction here is not always homogeneous nevertheless overall the performances are of a very high level. The works are exciting and should ensure the spotlight is turned on to these composers and performers.

Repertoire: ***** Sound **** Interpretation ***