Essex Piano Trio in concert

Essex Piano Trio will return to the First Church of Swampscott for our first concert here since 2019.

This “Mostly French Conversation among Friends” will be presented in Essex Piano Trio’s characteristic audience-friendly format, which involves interesting music interspersed with casual commentary designed to actively involve audience members in the performance. This lighthearted but elegant program, perfect for a Fall afternoon, includes the work of well-known and less recognized works by male and female French composers.

The two short and familiar movements from Camille Saint-Saëns’ famous Carnival of the Animals, which open the concert, provide a foil to the complex, rhythmic style of the last work before intermission, the Trio on Popular Irish Melodies by Frank Martin, a Swiss composer of Huegenot ancestry. These pieces are separated by the works of two French women: a sassy little movement by Germaine Tailleferre shows the more modern sound of the early 20th century, while the lovely and serene movement of Cécile Chaminade’s trio celebrates the lush writing of the 19th century romantic style.

The second half of program begins with the first movement of Gabriel Fauré’s only Piano Trio, written in the year before his death, and closes with Claude Debussy’s only Piano Trio, written when he was a precocious 18-year-old student still finding his way as a composer.

Suggested donation of $15.

Covid policy: Masks are required for those in attendance.