ABOUT THE MUSIC

Austrian-born Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791), unquestionably one of the greatest composers in history, began his career touring Europe as a 6 year-old piano prodigy, and he absorbed and mastered all the contemporary musical trends he was exposed to along the way. Composed in 1786, this Trio was originally written to be played by clarinetist Anton Stadler (for whom Mozart also wrote a Concerto and Quintet), with Mozart playing the viola part and with one of Mozart’s students on piano. Legend has it that Mozart wrote the work while simultaneously occupied in a game of skittles (i.e., lawn bowling), hence the subtitle “Kegelstatt,” a German term indicating the skittles playing field.

Along with Sergei Prokofiev and Dmitri Shostakovich, the Armenian Aram Khachaturian (1903-1978) became among the best-known of Soviet composers, and several of his works, such as his piano and violin concertos and music from the ballets Spartacus and Gayane (with its famous Sabre Dance), continue to command a place in the world’s concert halls. Although the Trio was written while Khachaturian was a student at the Moscow Conservatory, it demonstrates the marked influence of the Armenian folk music that fascinated him as a child and continued to color his mature compositions, so much so that he was posthumously honored by having his image used on Armenian currency!

Seattle-born composer and pianist William Bolcom (b.1938), who entered into private composition studies at the University of Washington when he was just 11 years old, has won the Pulitzer Prize, the National Medal of Arts and four Grammy awards, among many other honors. His works range from solo piano pieces to symphonies and opera, and last year he was named “Composer of the Year” by Musical America magazine. Ghost Rag is perhaps his most frequently performed piano piece, and in 1979 Bolcom arranged it for clarinet, violin and piano, along with his Incinerator Rag and four additional rags by the most famous composers of the genre. The resulting suite, Afternoon Cakewalk, was originally performed as a ballet by the Murray Lewis Dance Company.

--Notes by Ed Lein, Music Librarian

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