Tchaikovsky piano trio in A minor op 50

Jacob Barnes piano
Freya Creech violin
Ariana Kashefi cello

The members of the Willow Piano Trio all attended MusicWorks courses throughout their teenage years and before beginning work on Tchaikovsky’s monumental trio in the summer of 2008 they had already played trios by Haydn, Beethoven, Rachmaninov, Arensky and Smetana. The trio performed this work several times in the following year before recording it in the summer of 2009. Tragically, this was the last recording to be made by Jacob Barnes who was diagnosed with a rare form of leukaemia only a week after making this recording. The three musicians continued to play together until shortly before his death in April 2011. In his memory, MusicWorks established the Jacob Barnes Scholarship to enable a young pianist to attend the courses.

First movement – Pezzo elegiaco

Second movement A Tema con variazioni

var i Andante con moto

var ii Più mosso

var iii Allegro moderato

var iv L’istesso temp

var v L’istesso tempo

var vi Tempo di Valse

var vii Allegro moderato

var viii Fuga

var ix Andante flebile, ma non tanto

var x Tempo di Muzurka

var xi Moderato

Second Movement B Variazione Finale e Coda