LISNEY TRIO for violin, cello & piano

In the wake of several compositions I wrote over the years for James and Joy Lisney, and after the release of a double album last year on the Attacca label featuring two substantial works they adopted in their repertoire, I was encouraged to write a trio when James’s second daughter Emma joined them on the violin to form a piano trio. As I had never written anything for solo violin, nor for a duo of violin and cello, the idea of composing a piece which included these options took shape, not least after Joy suggested a format reminiscent of Messiaen’s Quatuor pour la Fin du Temps. For practical reasons this couldn’t be on the same scale as the Quatuor, so I limited its scope to well under 20 minutes. It does mean the cellist is idle for about 5 minutes and the pianist has to wait another 4 or 5 minutes to join in. It looks therefore as if a performance should include some comfortable seating on the stage, bearing in mind the three parts join up seamlessly. Each subsequent part contains ideas from the previous ones to ensure unity and consistency. The work concludes with an unashamed Coda that might well be considered my swan song…

Duration: roughly 16 minutes.

The trio was commissioned by and is dedicated to Emma, Joy and James Lisney.