An Introduction, Analysis, and Performance Evaluation of Selected Piano Trio Literature of the Twentieth Century

Description

will be a valuable resource book for libraries and performing groups, especially independent piano trios and those from university music faculties. They have included forty-one piano trios that are representative of many different 20th century styles and over thirty different composers. Also helpful was their extensive list in the Appendix of over seventy other trios they examined, but did not write about.Especially helpful is the extensive inclusion of musical examples that give a snapshot of the style and difficulty of each piece.Dr. Starr and Ms. Edwards have included a subjective Performers Evaluation and Commentary after their analytical description of each piece. This distinctive aid is one of the most helpful aspects of the bookauthors of such an extensive compendium would have enough discernment to make trustworthy judgments of the repertoire they studied, especially because they are also active performers of this genre. The authors are not afraid to make value judgments, even negative ones, on the repertoire..Especially helpful is their judgment of the technical proficiency needed to learn and perform each work, that is, whether a piece could be studied by a student trio or only by a professional trio. David Littrell, University Distinguished Professor of Music, Kansas State University; President, American Strings Teachers Association