Program Note:   

The Piano Trio No. 5 uses the story of the mythological character Icarus to explore the rapidly-changing emotional and psychological inner life of a person coping with bi-polar disorder. In psychology, there is discussed what is called the Icarus complex with respect to the alleged relationship between ambition and achievement; bi-polar disorder encompasses the pendulous swing from ecstatic highs to depressive-lows.

The first movement, Rupture: Intensive Care, was commissioned in 2011 as part of "the Folktale Project" by the Phoenix Concerts in New York for premiere performances by the Beijing New Music Ensemble, the Finisterra Piano Trio, and the Entelechron Trio. The form of the movement is that of a mobile, with each musical idea a separate element, all the elements in constant, Varèse-like motion. There are four musical elements: First, a "heart monitor" ostinato idea — an emphatic fortissimo pizzicato, doubled with a martellato piano stroke. Second, an “SOS” rhythmic figure of three short notes followed by three long ones. Third, "piano roulades" — a fistful of notes that spray outwards and upwards. Fourth, a "lyrical tune" reminiscent of one written by an old friend, a suicide.

The second movement, Recollection: Red is… was commissioned in 2017 by The Phoenix Concerts for "the Folk-Tune Project" and first recorded by Entelechron (Roger Zahab, violin; David Russell, violoncello, and Robert Frankenberry, piano) for GPR Records. Dedicated to the memory of Tommy Makem, the movement consists of seven variations on the traditional Irish tune "Red is the Rose," which Tommy recorded.

The third (very sad) movement is the trio’s emotional center. Called Reverie: Just Once, the title is drawn from an Anne Sexton poem. The finale, Renewal: …is the Rose, consists of eight more variations on the Irish tune and a coda. It’s music swings manically from the ecstatic flight music of the second movement to the stunned heart monitor music of the first; from the music of the depressive third movement to new, hyper-emotional, operatic displays of emotion just prior to a final, soaring recapitulation of the finale’s opening. The coda, with its recollection of the heart monitor, ends with a tart reminder of reality.

Piano Trio No. 5 is dedicated to the Prometheus Trio, faculty ensemble in residence at the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music in Milwaukee.