Dvorak: Complete Piano Trios - Concordia Trio

The Four Piano Trios

No. 1 in B-flat Major, Op. 21

No. 2 in G Minor, Op. 26

No. 3 in F Minor, Op. 65

No. 4 in E Minor, Op. 90, "Dumky"

Concordia Trio

Albert MARKOV, Violin

Albert CATELL, Cello

Milton KAYE, Piano

Chamber music occupies a prominent place among the compositions of many nineteenth century composers, and Dvorak's appealing works of consistently high quality for strings or strings and piano are no exception. The four works that comprise Dvorak's contribution to the piano trio literature are actually the last four out of a total of six trios, the first two of which were probably destroyed by the composer himself. Although Western European music influenced Dvorak in his compositional discipline and choice of traditional forms and musical genres to express his musical ideas, his uniqueness lies in the outward expression of his thoroughly Slavic/Czechish soul in his melodies, rhythms, color, and overall musical personality. Continuing the strong nationalistic musical expression begun by his compatriot Bedrich Smetana (1824-1884), Dvorak and his successors -- in particular Leos Janacek -- remined the world of the rich musical tradition that produced Gluck, Fux, Dussek, the Stamitz family and the Benda brothers.