Album insights
After completing his Piano Trio No. 1 in E minor (CDA68243) in 1877 and having it performed at the London Chamber Concerts organized by Edward Dannreuther as well as at the chamber music series by Hermann Franke at the Royal Academy of Music, Hubert Parry immersed himself in composing chamber music exclusively for Dannreuther's promising concert series at 12 Orme Square, Bayswater. In 1878, he finished a one-movement Fantasia Sonata for violin and piano, performed on January 30, 1879, at Orme Square, and a set of variations in D minor for solo piano (the "Theme and nineteen variations"). In November 1878, he sketched the first movement of a piano concerto, but his focus shifted to a new chamber work, a Piano Quartet in A-flat major. Parry diligently worked on this in November and December, completing the first draft by January 12, 1879. Impressed by Parry's work, Dannreuther swiftly included it in the program for February 13, 1879, at Orme Square, where it received great acclaim.
Parry recorded two rehearsals of the Piano Quartet held on February 9 and 11 at Dannreuther's salon, with the latter particularly pleasing him. The performers—Dannreuther (piano), Alexander Kummer (violin), Carl Jung (viola), and Jules Lasserre (cello)—found the piece technically demanding but extremely rewarding upon closer examination of the bold score. Parry, noting cheerfully in his diary:
"This morning the final rehearsal of my quartet for Thursday. Naturally, it gave them some trouble, but they seemed overall satisfied. I was very pleased with their appreciation. I was in a strange way intoxicated and surprised by significant portions, enchanted by the tone and opulence that manifested. One thing that struck me was the scherzo effect that I previously doubted, but this time it worked, and D[annreuther] quickly turned to the others at the end and exclaimed loudly, 'Superb movement.' They described the slow movement as 'magnificent' and 'quite heavenly,' which made me ecstatic with joy. The final movement was quite mad at the end."
Out of all his chamber music works, Parry's Piano Quartet received the most performances. Soon after the premiere at Orme Square, it was featured at a private concert showcasing Parry's works in Arthur Balfour's home in Carlton Gardens. Subsequent performances at Orme Square occurred regularly on March 3, 1881, December 13, 1883, and November 18, 1886. Moreover, it was played on May 4, 1883, as part of the newly established concert series in Cambridge (the Cambridge University Musical Society's chamber concerts) and on November 8, 1886, at a concert hosted by the University of Oxford Music Society (where the Piano Trios No. 1 and 2 and the Violin Partita were also performed). Dannreuther performed as the pianist in all these concerts. On December 3, 1883, the work featured at the Popular Monday Concerts at St. James’s Hall in central London, with performers such as Agnes Zimmermann (piano), Madame Norman-Neruda (violin), Benno Holländer (viola), and Alfredo Piatti (cello). Despite its challenging nature, the piece was published by Novello in 1884.
Among the instrumental works composed by Parry in the late 1870s (also including orchestral works like the Concertstück in G minor and the Overture "Guillem de Cabestanh"), the Piano Quartet marks a high point in his early compositional maturity. The shadowy, slow introduction not only presents the essence of the Allegro molto but also creates the impression of a work of epic proportions. This is further solidified in the first movement with a sonata form of generous proportions, where Parry aimed for thematic breadth and motivic complexity akin to those found in Brahms's Piano Quartets (op. 25 and op. 26). Having regularly featured Brahms's chamber music in his Orme Square concerts, Dannreuther acquainted Parry with the intellectual challenges posed by these quartets.
The mischievous Scherzo stands out as one of Parry's successful creations in this genre. In this rhythmically spirited movement, fleeting melodies combine with relentless, biting energy. A melodious, richly textured waltz briefly conquers this energy before the Scherzo resolutely returns, culminating in an even more devilish drive in the coda.
The slow movement, a condensed sonata form, showcases an extended lyrical melody (bearing similarity to one of Schumann's Night Pieces). Initially introduced by the piano, it is later continued by the strings. Tension arises not only from the piano's turbulent rhythmic undertones and extensive pedal points but also from the broad polyphonic conversations among the strings, their dissonant exchanges proving captivating. As a counterbalance to the two major climaxes, the movement’s coda appears exceptionally lyrical with its generous counter-melodies and tonal variations.
The finale, a lively ride for the whole ensemble, juxtaposes a first theme full of vitality and vigor with a more tranquil second theme initially played by the string trio. Later, a contrapuntal passage featuring the piano, reminiscent of Wagnerian diatonic counterpoint in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, emerges. The development and coda of the finale serve as an apotheosis of the work as a cyclical whole, with Parry reworking material from the first movement's beginning in the development. This material, along with the demonic music of the Scherzo, is incorporated into a virtuosic coda passage.
By the time Parry completed his Piano Trio No. 2 in B minor in 1884, he had composed two successful choral works for the Three Choirs Festival in Gloucester, a piano concerto, several chamber works, songs, and two symphonies. Due to these achievements and his music criticism skills, he was appointed as a professor of music history at the newly established Royal College of Music in London in 1883. The second trio was written at the pinnacle of Dannreuther's chamber concerts and premiered on November 25, 1884, at Orme Square by Dannreuther, Henry Holmes (violin), and Charles Ould (cello). Shortly after, it was published by Novello and gained enduring popularity, with a reissue in 1903. Similar to the Piano Quartet, the trio was a substantial work that didn't immediately garner universal appreciation. Following a performance in Cambridge on February 17, 1886, with Dannreuther, Ould, and Richard Gompertz (violin), Stanford confessed to Parry that he found the first movement "rather perplexing" and the final movement "too restless and sonically diffuse." Though it was performed in Oxford in November 1886, the lukewarm audience reaction did little to bolster Parry's confidence. Nevertheless, the work retained a place in the repertoire and was even played in Dresden in July 1894. The London Trio—established in 1901—comprising Amina Goodwin (piano), Achille Simonetti (violin), and William Waterhouse (cello), also included the work in their London subscription concerts at the Aeolian Hall and the Bechstein Hall.
The Trio No. 2 is the most extensive of his three piano trios—a serious, passionate work influenced by both Schumann's fantasy and Brahms's intellectuality. This is particularly evident in the expansive first movement, with its slow and deeply elegiac introduction that introduces a "motto theme" connecting several sections. Various themes evolve from it throughout the work, such as the fiery theme in the Allegro con fuoco, breaking free with fervor from the introduction. Parry's treatment of the expansive structure of the first movement clearly reflects Brahms’s influence, while the dynamism of his ideas—the intensity of the first theme, the characteristic falling sevenths in the transition, the lyricism of the second theme, the unusual rapture of the development, and the dreamy conclusion in B-flat—speak more to Parry's Dionysian impulsivity rather than his Apollonian rationality.
The slow movement, utilizing a form seen in his Piano Quartet, Cello Sonata, and first two symphonies, consists of an extended primary theme lovingly "sung" by the cello, with distinctive new thematic material introduced and elaborated upon simultaneously in the second thematic area. The movement concludes with a reprise of the primary theme, assigned to the violin, paired with the cello's expansive counter-melody sounding almost ecstatic.
In the Scherzo, the two primary themes are deftly juxtaposed in accordance with sonata form. The first is a lively dance, while the second features the "motto theme" from the start of the first movement as the basis of a Bach-like passage employing a reversible triple counterpoint—a superb example of Parry's Apollonian brilliance in counterpoint. Serving as relief from this busy activity, the Dionysian trio presents a sweet section of melodious harmony, hinting at the second theme of the first movement and the material of the slow movement.
Beginning in a Schumann-esque manner, the finale commences with a slow introduction clearly referencing the "motto" of the first movement, then carries on with a reminiscence of the Scherzo's trio. The actual finale