Parry: Piano Trio 2 & Piano Quartet

 

Hubert Parry's Piano Trio no. 2 in B minor is stormily passionate throughout, with an emotional vitality provided by the Leonore Trio. I daresay the music nearly runs to the edge of being syrupy in the first movement, where waves of violin and cello constantly slather over each other with emotional juices.

Whereas the First and Third Piano Trios follow their first movements with a fast second movement, here Parry positions his slow movement as the second. A rather lovely cello song intones the meat of this portion of the Second Piano Trio, usually mixed with violin commentary, although I think the music still maintains the stormy passions the first movement introduced. Instead, the sound of the second movement is more song-like, with some nice piano accompaniment figures from Parry.

I have come to really enjoy Parry's Scherzos; whether or not they are academically contrapuntal or more characterfully Scherzo-like seems not to matter as to their success to my ears. Here, Parry is in an unusually jolly mood musically in this third movement, contrasting the other three more serious movements quite nicely.

While I wish Parry would have maintained the high spirits of the third movement, I suppose this last movement is true to the work as a whole, coming in with a stormy emotional excess mostly explored by the bantering string instruments. A few rays of sunshine peek out in the last moments, but even here Parry references the moods which came before.

Parry seems less interested in exploring the piano as a third contributing member, relegating the keyboard as mainly background counterpoint and rhythmic action, although the piano plays constantly throughout the work. The violin and cello are consistently imitative of each other in this Second Piano Trio, very often soaring in overlapping waves of musical phrases. I wish Sir Hubert had explored some differing textures.

If I wasn't as won over by Parry's Piano Trio no. 2, the composer's Piano Quartet in A-flat Major buoyed my spirits, sharing a kinship to my favored First Piano Trio from Parry. The addition of a viola bolsters the sound of the Leonore Trio even more, an ensemble which already bore a firm, strong tone.

Can I say, now that I have heard all of Parry's piano trios, I have never been especially taken with his slow-tempoed introductions? These opening portions only seem to delay the inevitable, adding little to the end product. Here, Parry strikes another heavy, serious tone, one which isn't particularly relevant to what follows.

The piano is allowed to state the Allegro proper of the first movement by itself, where hopefully the keyboard instrument is allowed a little more amongst the quartet. Indeed, the piano seems to revel in motivic ideas passed among the quartet, not just located among the strings. While the Allegro rhythmic profile is nearly jaunty at its ope, the music turns much more serious, although some pizzicatos nod to the initial lighter tone. The return of this Allegro material at the end is somewhat valedictory, making for a rather effective opening movement, although Parry seems to prefer his moodier textures overall, concluding slowly and heartfeltly, a pleasant surprise.

Ah... I enjoy when Parry places the Scherzo in the second movement, as he does here, ably contrasting the ruminative final notes of the first movement. This ones skips around nearly menacingly at its start, although when the melodiousness is inserted, the mood lightens. It is the finger-tangled keyboard runs which impress here, again giving some spotlight to the piano. The piano also introduces the Trio section, one which is held back from any overly effusive emotional qualities. I only continue to mention the role of the piano, as it was nearly absent as a contributing motivic partner in Parry's Second Piano Trio.

I was going to stop mentioning the piano for a bit, but the third-movement Andante begins with solo piano, and most winsomely at that. The entry of the string instruments shortly afterwards is a lovely moment from Parry. Really, this entire movement is all rather lovely, with the Andante tempo allowing some rhythmic drive and inner-movement contrast to the more lyrically fetching portions.

Parry's only Piano Quartet ends with a fourth-movement moto perpetuo, only interrupted by more intimately contrasting sections. Sometimes Parry can be too moderate in his concluding movements, especially following a lyrically slow movement, but that is not a problem here.

Truthfully, both works are probably a bit overlong for their content, but the Leonore Trio make listening to Hubert Parry's piano trios an absolute pleasure. They imbue such effusive passion into every note and phrase, with no lack of vibrato or feeling of musical tension. One might say it is a bit exhausting listening to them, but I view such a phrase as a good thing.

 

Works
Piano Trio 2 in B minor (32.34)
Piano Quartet in A-flat Major (32.55)

Performers
Leonore Trio
  Benjamin Nabarro, violin
  Gemma Rosefield, cello
  Tim Horton, piano
  Rachel Roberts, viola (PQ)

Label: Hyperion
Year: 2019
Total Timing: 65.31

 

Like Parry's Third Piano Trio, I am not as completely enamored with his Piano Trio no. 2. Parry doesn't seem as free-wheeling as a composer, and the piano doesn't interact as much as it should.

The Piano Quartet, on the other hand, is wonderful, setting beside the First Piano Trio as easy favorites in Parry's chamber music oeuvre.

The Leonore Trio play just as lustily as they did in their first volume of Parry's piano trios, even if Parry's music can be uneven. The Leonore Trio's best attribute is believing that what they are playing is the absolute pinnacle from the composer, making me believe too. Hyperion's sound is uniformly excellent.

Find more Parry recordings HERE!