Presents
Alexander Borodin
Piano Trio in D Major
While Alexander Borodin (1833-1887) is fairly well-known, it is his orchestral pieces and not his chamber music which has made his name. Nine out of ten people could not tell you that the famous Borodin melody in the popular Broadway musical Kismet is from his Second String Quartet. But Borodin wrote several lovely chamber music works. These fall into two distinct periods. The first is from his time in Germany during the late 1850's when he was doing post graduate work in chemistry.
His Piano Trio in D Major most likely dates from the when was in Italy during the 1860s. It is in three movements and is generally thought to be either unfinished or missing its finale as it ends with a minuet, which would have been rather uncharacteristic for this time period. There is no conclusive evidence one way or the other as to whether the finale was lost or never written. His manuscript lay forgotten in the Russian State Institute for Performing Arts (formerly the Leningrad Institute for Theater and Music) for nearly 100 years until it was published for the first time by the Soviet State Music Publishers in 1950. In the first movement, Allegro con brio, one hears the influence of Mendelssohn's First Piano Trio, the Op.49 in d minor, especially in the piano part. The cello introduces the first theme: In general, the strings are given long sustained lines over a rushing piano background. Interestingly, the bridge passage and second theme are related to the second and third movements. Next comes a Schumannesque Romanze, Andante. The last movement, Minuetto, is the most original of the three. It is not a true minuet but rather a more like a mazurka.
Our edition is based on the manuscript and the first published edition.
Parts: $29.95
