Program Notes
Copyright 2012 by Jason S. Heilman, Ph.D.
Trio for Clarinet, Violin & Piano
composed in 1932 duration: 16
Aram Khachaturian (19031978)
Today, Aram Khachaturian is remembered as the other
prominent Soviet composer from the generation that
included Dmitri Shostakovich, but during his own life-
time, it was Khachaturian who was often considered the
superior artist. Born into an Armenian family in what is
now Georgia then part of the Russian Empire Kha-
chaturian grew up with the Soviet Union, watching it
transform itself from an antidote to Imperial tyranny to
an instrument of Stalins terror. Like Shostakovich, Kha-
chaturian was subject to an exaggerated measure of criti-
cism from Stalins regime, and he was forced to read his
own apology in the 1948 purges alongside Shostako-
vich and Prokofiev. But Khachaturian quickly found
himself back in the Partys good graces, and his ballets
Gayaneh (which included the famous saber dance) and
Spartacus helped to secure his reputation.
Though he had taught himself the piano and played a
few instruments, the young Khachaturian never held out
much hope of becoming a musician. Yet to his surprise,
his great enthusiasm for music helped him to win a spot
as a cello and later a composition student at the Gnessin
Conservatory in 1923, and he went on to study composi-
tion at the prestigious Moscow Conservatory under Ni-
kolay Miaskovsky. Khachaturians only piece of chamber
music, the Trio for Clarinet, Violin, and Piano, was com-
posed during his time under Miaskovskys tutelage.
Khachaturians earliest musical influences came from
folk music, particularly from his native Armenia and
Georgia, as well as from Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and
Azerbaijan, all constituent, if far-flung and exotic, repub-
lics of the USSR. Miaskovsky encouraged this practice in
the name of pan-Soviet nationalism, and it can be heard
in this youthful Trio, in which the clarinet and violin fre-
quently play in their respective folk idioms. Reversing
the typical fast-slow-fast movement arrangement, the
andante con dolore first movement features a plaintive
duet between the clarinet and the violin, while the alle-
gro second movement alternates between bouncing,
dancelike melodies and more contemplative themes. The
moderato finale is based on an Uzbek folk melody, stat-
ed by the clarinet at the outset and punctuated by rau-
cous outbursts. A piano solo introduces a subdued trio
section at the halfway point, and the intensity gradually
builds, leading to a presto return of the Uzbek themes
before fading away.
Eight Pieces for Clarinet, Viola & Piano, Op. 83
composed in 1909 duration: 15 (excerpts)
Max Bruch (18381920)
Born just before Pyotr Tchaikovsky and Antonn Dvok,
German composer Max Bruchs long career spanned the
entire late Romantic epoch. Yet while he lived long
enough to see the rise of the modernist style exemplified
by Arnold Schoenberg and Igor Stravinsky, Bruch re-
mained a musical conservative, devoted to the tradition
exemplified by Johannes Brahms. Bruch composed in
every genre (including three symphonies and two surviv-
ing operas), but he is best known today for his concer-
tante works, particularly his First Violin Concerto (of
three), written in 1864, and his 1881 Kol Nidrei, an ada-
gio on Hebrew themes for cello and orchestra. Interest-
ingly, although the latter piece is obviously inspired by
Jewish music, Bruch himself was not Jewish, neither by
practice nor by heritage. Rather, he merely drew upon
exotic-sounding Jewish ritual melodies as a resource,
much as he would utilize Scottish folk music in his Scot-
tish Rhapsody for violin. Nevertheless, this confusion
was sufficient for the Nazis to censor Bruch alongside
Jewish composers like Mendelssohn and Mahler, and his
music was seldom heard in his native country just a dec-
ade after his death.
Like Brahms, Bruch came to the clarinet late in life.
Bruch was in his seventies and nearing retirement from
his post on the faculty of the prestigious Berlin
Hochschule fr Musik when he wrote his Eight Pieces for
Clarinet, Viola, and Piano, followed soon after by his
double Concerto for Clarinet and Viola, Op. 88. And like
Brahms and Mozart before Bruch was inspired to
write his clarinet works by one unusually gifted clarinet-
ist. In Bruchs case, the clarinetist was the composers
twenty-five-year-old son, Max Felix, who had just started
his career as a professional musician in Hamburg. A nos-
talgically Romantic style pervades Bruchs Eight Pieces,
belying the fact that the set was composed the same year
as Stravinskys groundbreaking modernist ballet The
Firebird.
The eight works that comprise Bruchs Opus 83 were not
intended to be performed as a complete cycle, but rather
they served as an album from which individual perfor-
mances can be drawn. Seven of the eight pieces are in
minor keys, further complementing the musics nostalgic
qualities. The individual pieces, which range in length
from two to seven minutes, typically have simple two-
part or three-part forms. In each piece, the clarinet and
the viola alternate as the dominant solo instruments,
while the piano serves an accompanimental role
throughout. The fifth piece, in F minor, is based on a
Romanian folk melody, while the sixth piece is titled as a
nocturne. The seventh, in B major, is the only major-key
piece in the set, and it could serve as an exuberant finale,
yet Bruch ends the cycle where he began, with the first
and eighth pieces sounding a melancholy note. Melan-
choly might have been in the air, however: suffering
from ill health, Bruch retired from composing altogether
following these valedictory works. He would live long
enough to see his Germany defeated in a World War,
and, possibly more traumatically for him, to see his own
Romantic style fade even farther into the past with the
ascendance of expressionism and atonality.
Trio for Clarinet, Viola & Piano in E flat Major, K.498,
Kegelstatt
composed in 1786 duration: 21
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (17561791)
The expression unique is overused to the point of par-
ody these days, but there are instances when it is appro-
priate. When Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart composed his
Trio for Clarinet, Viola, and Piano in 1786, it was unique.
As far as we know, no one had composed a piece for this
particular combination of middle-range instruments be-
fore, and no one would again until Robert Schumann
wrote his Mrchenerzhlungen in 1853. Mozarts trio
was so unusual that his Viennese publisher initially re-
leased it as a trio for piano, viola and violin (with the op-
tion of substituting the clarinet), ostensibly so that
someone might have reason to buy it.
One reason the clarinet-viola-piano combination was so
novel had to do with the novelty of the clarinet itself. The
clarinet was one of the last modern instruments to
evolve, only attaining something resembling its contem-
porary configuration during the late 1700s, when it re-
placed its cousin, the unruly basset horn. Mozart is re-
membered as the first major composer to discover the
clarinet, using the instrument in the orchestra for his
Viennese operas and in four of his later symphonies.
(Haydn, by comparison, largely avoided the clarinet until
after Mozarts death, first using it in his 99th Sympho-
ny.) But Mozart clearly had greater aspirations for the
clarinet; after his Trio, he would compose a Quintet for
Clarinet and Strings and, in the last year of his life, a
Clarinet Concerto. The inspiration for all three of these
works was the Viennese musician Anton Stadler (1753
1812), who was considered the first clarinet virtuoso. As
a friend and frequent musical collaborator of Mozarts,
Stadler was able to impress the composer firsthand with
the instruments potential. In the premiere of the trio,
which took place in a private house concert in Vienna,
Stadler performed the clarinet part, while Mozart him-
self played viola, and one of Mozarts students played the
piano.
This deceptively simple trio is cast in three movements,
opening unconventionally with the slow movement. Af-
ter a brief but grandiose introduction, this adagio
movement goes on to feature the clarinet prominently,
playing the lyrical main theme with assistance from the
piano and viola. The second movement is in the form of
a minuet dance, with the clarinet and viola frequently
pitted against the piano. The finale is a warm and invit-
ing rondo (or rather, rondeaux), again with the clarinet
and piano playing in alternation, and the viola supplying
the counterpoint. This trio has long borne the nickname
Kegelstatt, meaning, essentially, bowling alley. Ac-
cording to a popular story, Mozart composed this trio
between frames of Kegeln, a Central European nine-pin
lawn bowling game. Yet while Mozart, by his own admis-
sion, composed a few pieces while enjoying games (and
drinks) at ninepins, this trio does not appear to be one of
them, and so the Kegelstatt moniker is something of an
urban legend possibly more a commentary on Mo-
zarts reputation than a biographical fact.
 Program Notes
Copyright 2012 by Jason S. Heilman, Ph.D.
Suite for Clarinet, Violin & Piano, Op. 157b
composed in 1936 duration: 12
Darius Milhaud (18921974)
In the 1920s, six young French composers were hailed by
the press for rewriting the rules of art music to keep pace
with the times, rejecting the sumptuous orchestral tex-
tures of Debussy for a leaner, cooler aesthetic. Of these
six composers, the most prolific was Darius Milhaud.
Born in Marseilles, Milhaud studied composition at the
Paris Conservatoire under Charles-Marie Widor while at
the same time immersing himself in the Paris cultural
scene. Milhaud was instantly fascinated by the then-new
jazz music, and the rhythmic impulse in his own compo-
sitions shows this influence. On a 1922 trip to the United
States, Milhaud made a point to visit the Harlem jazz
clubs, which led to one of Milhauds best-known works,
the 1923 ballet La cration du monde (The Creation of
the World), a retelling of African creation myths in a
jazz-inflected style. In his later life, this interest in jazz
would come full circle, as the elder Milhauds students
included Burt Bacharach and Dave Brubeck.
In 1936, Milhaud supplied the incidental music for the
premiere of Jean Anouilhs play Le voyageur sans
bagage (The Traveler without Baggage). The satirical
play tells the story of an amnesiac World War I veteran
who comes to learn that he used to be a particularly cruel
member of a dysfunctional family and decides to switch
identities and start fresh. After the success of the play,
Milhaud made a chamber suite for clarinet, violin, and
piano out of four of his incidental numbers, which he
published as his Opus 157b. Taking inspiration from the
baroque dance suite, Milhauds suite begins with a brisk
and sunny Ouverture. This is followed by a Divertisse-
ment (amusement) in which the clarinet and violin
mirror one another, before segueing into an evocative,
wistful melody. True to its title, the third movement
(Jeu) is playful and light, while the weighty finale (Intro-
duction et Final) reflects both the psychological drama of
the plays climax and its happy resolution.
Trio for Clarinet, Violin & Piano
composed in 2006 duration: 10
Marcus Paus (b. 1979)
Norwegian composer Marcus Paus came to classical mu-
sic by way of heavy metal: As a teenager, he briefly be-
came famous as the worlds fastest guitarist, and he
was even credited with a Guinness World Record for his
high-velocity tremolo picking. Paus put his shredding
skills to use in the Norwegian thrash metal band Mr. Cu-
cumber, where he first began writing his own music.
Eventually Paus expanded his horizons beyond heavy
metal, enrolling at the Norwegian Academy of Music,
and going on to study in the United States at the Man-
hattan School of Music. Paus has composed in numerous
genres, including symphonies, choral works, operas, film
scores, and chamber music, and has been composer-in-
residence of Norways Winter Chamber Music Festival
and the Norwegian Festival for Church, Arts and Culture.
Composed for the Zodiac Trio, Pauss Trio for Clarinet,
Violin, and Piano is set in two movements, the first of
which is labeled a Pastoral, and draws on Norwegian
folk music to evoke a rustic scene. In contrast to the first
movements lyrical simplicity, the Energico second
movement courses forward towards an exciting coda.
End of Summer
composed in 1985 duration: 20
Ned Rorem (b. 1923)
One of Americas most honored composers, Ned Rorem
received the Pulitzer Prize in music in 1976, as well as
the Fulbright and Guggenheim Fellowships, and
ASCAPs Lifetime Achievement Award in 2003. Born in
rural Indiana, Rorem received his musical education in
Chicago at the University of Chicago, the American Con-
servatory of Music, and Northwestern University. He is
best known for his art songs and choral music, genres
that suit Rorem particularly well as, by his own admis-
sion, he tends to conceive of music vocally, giving all his
works a distinctly melodic character. A prolific author,
Rorem has published several volumes of his Diaries,
chronicling his interactions with many of the twentieth
centurys most prominent musicians.
End of Summer, Rorems three-movement trio for clari-
net, violin, and piano, evokes the passing of the seasons
and, seemingly, the end of childhood. The first move-
ment, titled Capriccio, begins with a virtuosic cadenza
for the solo violin, which serves as the motivic seed for
the entire movement once the clarinet and piano join in,
alternating between relaxed and hectic moods. This is
followed by a free and nostalgic Fantasy, played per Ro-
rems insistence in the tempo of falling leaves up
until the movements tense climax and subtle release.
The third movement is a Mazurka, the triple-meter
Polish dance made famous by Chopin. Here Rorem
brushes off Chopins genteel veneer to evoke the rough-
edged spirit of the rustic peasant dance itself, which ebbs
and flows in intensity at times dizzyingly virtuosic and
then touchingly melodic before its abrupt end.
Trio for Clarinet, Violin & Piano
composed in 1990 duration: 20
Paul Schoenfield (b. 1947)
Paul Schoenfields career has taken him from a child-
hood in Detroit to a kibbutz in Israel and many points in
between. Training initially as a pianist, whose teachers
included Rudolf Serkin, Schoenfield has degrees from
Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Arizo-
na. Schoenfield has toured extensively as a pianist and
composer, and he currently serves on the composition
faculty of the University of Michigan.
Befitting his wide-ranging career, Schoenfields eclectic
music draws on diverse sources. His Trio for Clarinet,
Violin, and Piano is inspired by klezmer music a par-
ticularly apt choice, since this distinctive style of secular
Jewish instrumental music prominently features the
clarinet and violin. Klezmer, which is thought to have
originated in the Eastern European region of Bessarabia,
reflects the dual influence of East and West, using west-
ern instruments like the violin, clarinet, and accordion,
but taking its distinctive tonality from the prayer modes
of the diasporic synagogue. Schoenfields Trio reflects
some of the diverse strains of klezmer; the first move-
ment, titled Freylekh (Yiddish for festive, for its use in
wedding celebrations), draws on the most common
klezmer genre, and showcases the virtuosic and expres-
sive clarinet. The second movement (March) presses
forward with a seething energy, while the haunting free-
form third movement evokes the nigun, or the somber
religious melodies of the klezmer tradition. This move-
ment segues directly into the finale, titled koztzke, which
returns to the upbeat feel of the first movement, incorpo-
rating increasingly complex rhythmic patterns to bring
the work to its ultimate climax.
Contrasts
composed in 1938 duration: 18
Bla Bartk (18811945)
The only chamber work by the Hungarian composer Bla
Bartk to feature a wind instrument, Contrasts owes its
existence to an unlikely benefactor: the clarinetist and
big band leader Benny Goodman. In spite of his popular
success, Goodman had always wanted to be taken seri-
ously as a musician, so he started using his fame and
wealth to expand the clarinets repertoire. After Con-
trasts, Goodman went on to commission or premiere
clarinet works from such composers as Aaron Copland,
Igor Stravinsky, and Leonard Bernstein. But the real im-
petus behind Contrasts was the Hungarian violin virtuo-
so Joseph Szigeti, a friend of Bartks who had emigrated
to the United States to escape the rise of fascism. It was
Szigeti who suggested Bartk to Goodman, proposing a
trio the three men could play together in the hopes that
the commission might facilitate Bartks own move to
the U.S., which ultimately took place in 1940.
The original commission was for a two-movement piece,
with each movement short enough to fit on one side of a
78-rpm record. Bartk instead delivered three move-
ments (adding what is now the middle movement last)
and gave the work the English title Contrasts. Each of
the movements has a Hungarian title and a strong Cen-
tral European flavor. The first movement is a moderately
paced Verbunkos, an expressive Gypsy dance associated
with the recruiters for the old Austro-Hungarian Army
(the name comes from the German Werbung, meaning
advertisement). The slow second movement, titled Pi-
hen, or relaxation, begins true to its name, only to
explode in a contrasting burst of activity at the halfway
point. The third and final movement is a Sebes: a Bulgar-
ian folk dance in an irregular meter Bartk described as
(3+2+3)+(2+3). The violinist must re-tune two strings
for this lively movement, adding to its rustic flavor.