The project

This project makes a contribution to knowledge in a number of ways. The broad survey (see the catalogue) provides a starting place for ensembles looking for repertoire from this genre. The selection of featured works offers my program notes and recordings of the works we performed. The multi-modal curation of the live performances provides a case study for how low-budget events can be made meaningful and memorable through things like floral or visual object displays, multimedia, lighting, and spoken and written narrative.

The development of this project has been informed by examining the piano trio within western classical music; by tracing the composition and performance of piano trio works in Australia from the 19th century forward; by comparing parallel or overlapping research on Australian music and by exploring the documented performance and recording work of the genre. The piano trio emerged as a result of technical advances in the fortepiano and (at the time modern) pianoforte, together with the convergence of the Baroque trio sonata and accompanied sonata (Horan, 1983). Apart from works by Haydn and Mozart, the role of the strings, especially the cello, tended to be subordinate to the piano until about 1800 (Baron, 1998). During the first half of the 19th century in Europe, most chamber music of significance was still composed in Germany and Austria, but in the latter half of the century significant contributions were made by nationalist composers from France, Czechoslovakia and Russia, broadening to include composers across Europe, Britain and America in the first half of the 20th century (Smallman, 2002) as well as the emergence of works from post-colonial countries such as South Africa, central/South America and Australia. In Australia, most of the piano trio works performed in concerts during the 19th century were imported from Europe, with a smattering of works by local talent (Lais, 2009). In the 20th century, most up and coming Australian composers studied in England, until about 1950, when they tended to study in other centres in Europe, the US and Asia, with the cultural isolation gradually diminishing as the century progressed (Broadstock, 2000). One of the most significant information databases related to Australian music in the western classical tradition is the Australian Music Centre (AMC). It contains scores, recordings, biographical information for much of the commissioned and other professionally established composition in Australia, and this database was the starting point for information in the catalogue. The publishing house and database Wirripang, though less extensive, provides access to information and scores of a number of Australian piano trio works not available through the AMC. Comparative or parallel research has been done focusing on various genres or categories of Australian music, for example chamber music with piano (Sitsky, 2011), symphonies (McNeill, 2014); violin concertos (Lorenz, 2010), and various areas of solo repertoire (Carrigan, 2016 etc). There have been a number of significant recordings made in the past few years featuring Australian piano trio repertoire, including albums by ensembles such as the Benaud and Muses Trios; and various research and recording projects of early piano trios led by Jeanell Carrigan. These four categories of information have helped to situate the project featured in this website.

The approach and methods used to undertake this project were three-fold. Central to the project was my artistic practice as a collaborative pianist, within the context of our piano trio. Secondly the project involved an exploration of the context of works, through study of existing literature and artefacts, and also through interviews with composers. The findings of the contextual research, together with the outcomes of the artistic exploration and collaborative preparation of the repertoire, were intentionally curated into three live performances, on the topics of ‘Heritage’, ‘Landscapes’ and ‘To Be Human’, held in 2019, 2020 and 2021, respectively. The research is documented in both a written exegesis and this website, which contains information, recordings and resources such as my program notes, readily available to the public.

• Some resources mentioned on this page include:
• Australian Music Centre.
• Baron, J. H. (1998). Intimate music: a history of the idea of chamber music. Pendragon Press.
• Benaud Trio & Bradman, G. (2018). The Aussie album. (CD) Sydney, Australia: ABC Classics.
• Broadstock, B. (1995). Sound ideas: Australian composers born since 1950: a guide to their music and ideas. Australian Music Centre.
  
• Carrigan, J. (2016). Composing against the tide: Early twentieth century Australian women composers and their piano music. Wirripang Media Pty Limited.
• Horan, C. A. (1983). A survey of the piano trio from 1800 through 1860. (volumes i & ii) (Publication Number 8403432) Ph.D., Northwestern University.
• Lais, P. J. (2009). Chamber-music in Melbourne 1877-1901: a history of performance and dissemination. PhD thesis, Music, The University of Melbourne.
• Lorenz, A. B. (2010). The Australian violin concerto (Masters thesis). Toowoomba, USQ Theses collection.
• Muses Trio. (2016). The spirit and the maiden. (CD).
• McNeill, R. (2014). The Australian symphony from Federation to 1960. Farnham, England: Ashgate Publishing Ltd.
• Ping-Robbins, N. R. (1984). The piano trio in the twentieth century. Raleigh, NC: Regan Press.
• Richter, G,, Choe, M., & Carrigan, J. (2022). Music for the Salon trio. Wirripang media.
• Sitsky, L. (2011). Australian chamber music with piano. Canberra, Australia: ANU Press.
• Smallman, B. (1990). The piano trio: Its history, technique and repertoire. Oxford, England: Clarendon Press.
• Wirripang.