Presents
Louise Farrenc
Piano Trio No.1 in E flat Major, Op.33
Louise Farrenc (1804-1875) enjoyed a considerable reputation during her own lifetime as both a performer and a teacher. Her chamber music is on a par with most of her well-known male contemporaries, although unfortunately these works never achieved the renown they deserved and fell into oblivion shortly after her death. As a young girl, Farrenc, a piano prodigy, was fortunate in studying with such great masters as Ignaz Moscheles, Johann Nepomuk Hummel and Anton Reicha.
Her first piano trio was composed during 1843-1844 and dedicated to one Delphine Bonar about whom we could find no information. It is in four movements. The hand of Beethoven can be strongly heard throughout the opening movement, Allegro. If one did not know that the trio was by Farrenc, one might well guess that it was by Beethoven as the writing and treatment of the instruments is rather like his op.1 trios. The second movement, Adagio sostenuto, with a sad melody in the cello's lower registered. A melancholy air hangs over the music of the sort one might feel upon entering Grandmother's apartment just after her funeral. A lively Menuetto, allegro comes next. It is much closer to a scherzo than any kind of traditional minuet. The Beethovian finale, Vivace concludes this appealing work.
Long out of print, it has received, to the best of our knowedge, only one edition, which is almost two centuries old. The French publishers back then used paper and ink which by today standards were far inferior. Though we have done our best as you might expect of an old edition, this is not up to modern standards, but it is perfectly readable. We have discounted the price to reflect this fact.
Parts: $27.95
