Presents
Vinzenzo Ferroni
Piano Trio in D Major, Op.54
Vinzenzo Ferroni (1858-1934) was born in the southern Italian village of Tramutola approximately 110 miles south of Naples. At the age of 12, he entered the Paris Conservatory where he studied with Augustine Savard and Jules Massenet. At the age of 18, he served as an assistant professor of harmony at the Conservatory. He eventually returned to Italy where he became a professor of composition at the Milan Conservatory and served as its assistant director for a quarter of a century. Many students, who later became well-known composers, studied with him. He gained considerable fame as an opera composer but also wrote a string quartet which won a prize, as well as several instrumental works and sonatas and two piano trios.
The Piano Trio in D Major, his first and the only one which seems to have survived, dates from 1906. It received glowing reviews upon its premier and subsequent performances. All of the leading Italian critics writing in Italy's most famous papers praised the trio for its spontaneity and inspiration. And German critics in Dresden and Leipzig extolled its melodic material and fine part writing, commenting that it would not be amiss for the trio to be performed on the same program as Beethoven's Archduke. In four movements, it begins with a genial and relaxed Allegro calmo in which after a very brief piano introduction, the cello gives forth a lyrical and lovely main theme. The music is quite romantic and has a vocal quality to it. In the second movement, Allegretto, a dotted rhythm dominates the melodic material. Next comes an Adagio appassionato. Here the violin brings forth a gorgeous melody which one could well imagine being sung as an operatic aria. When the cello joins in, it becomes a lovers duet. But the stormy middle section is a passionate and almost violent affair which provides a strong contrast to what has come before. The finale, Allegro giusto in 12/8, conjures up images of a bumpy horse ride across the countryside.
As the critics noted, this work is filled with appealing melodies and fine part-writing. It would do nicely in concert but is not beyond amateur ensembles. Out of print for may years, we are pleased to present it once again.
Parts: $29.95
