Concierto para trio [Click here to buy]

Comments by Pianist Albert Tiu:

The arrangements for most of the music on this disc were born out of my 40-minute subway rides from Forest Hills to Manhattan and back. Years of playing sonatas for trios, quartets and quintets had given me a number of ideas how to compositionally exploit the capabilities of these groups in new ways. Having just performed Paul Kochanski's transcription of Manuel de Falla's Seven Popular Spanish Songs for Violin and Piano (c) 1996, I decided to experiment with the piece myself by returning to the original Sietes canciones populares espanol (Mr. Kochanski's treatment had omitted Seguidilla murciana). During my subway journeys, I put my own piano trio version of the canciones to manuscript paper, adding the cello, redistributing the parts with the violin and writing obligato parts freely. Sean, Joseph and I would then meet to try out my latest subway concoction. Judging from their facial and verbal reactions, I would then make much needed revisions to improve on the absurd arrangements I had attempted without the benefit of the piano.

As I worked on this piece, I realized that the broader genre of Latin-influenced music from which the Songs came was well suited to the piano trio. With the immense range of timbres and dynamics that can be elicited from the piano, and the violin's and cello's ability to imitate the guitar's sound, the piano trio provided all the essential sonic elements of Spanish and Latin American Music. I proceeded to experiment on pieces I thought would benefit from a chamber music treatment. On this album, you will find the results in trio form of this exploration, including a piece originally for piano (Evocacion), a work originally for soprano and eight cellos (Bachianas brasileiras No. 5), a bravura piece for cello and piano (Requiebros), a very beautiful song (Del cabello mas sutil) and some of Astor Piazzolla's tangos.