The Kalliope Trio plays Beethoven Tchaikovsky and MORE!

Welcome the winter holidays our new program of Romantic works featuring Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, and more! This program begins with the Adagio-Allegro con Brio of Ludwig van Beethoven’s Trio Op. 38, full of exciting contrasts.

Next we perform our arrangement of Ølvind Westby’s Portrait of a Family, because what better time than the winter holidays to reflect on the value and importance of family! This ten minute arrangement features four short contrasting movements, each about a different family member: The Father, The Mother, The Dancing Daughter, and The Baby Brother. Enjoy hearing each character aurally depicted with contrasting melodies ranging from serious, lyrical, jazzy, and playful, combined with the different tone colors from the Bassoon, Oboe, and even English Horn!

Following this is our own special arrangement of Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s October and Joesph Kosma’s Autumn Leaves, reflecting the beautiful season of Autumn as it comes to an end for the year. The music begins with Tchaikovsky’s calming lyrical melodies until halfway through when it morphs into the beloved jazz tune Autumn Leaves, capturing the best elements of Autumn.

This is followed by more of our own Tchaikovsky arrangements, this time reflecting the upcoming winter season with three dances from Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker: Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy, Le Cafe, and the Chinese Dance. Enjoy hearing these magical melodies performed on orchestral instruments you do not normally get to hear, in addition to some virtuosic piano playing!

This program is concluded with more selections from Beethoven’s Trio Op. 38. This trio was written originally as a septet but arranged as a piano trio by Beethoven himself, resulting in a challenging but beautiful piano part. Beethoven’s wrote this trio at age 30 and it reflects his life well because the music is strong, balanced, and full of promise, but also has a darker undertone that can be heard at some point in almost every movement. The ten minute selection for this program features a graceful adagio, sprightly scherzo, and exciting finale including a piano cadenza!