Deep River

Sonata in G minor for Piano, Cello, and Violin

Robert Mackintosh (1745-1807)

Nicknamed “Red Rob” for his fiery red hair, Robert Mackintosh was a fine violinist, dance fiddler, and band leader in Aberdeen and Edinburgh before retiring to London in 1803. As one of the great Scottish fiddler composers, he wrote over 350 dance tunes in the form of reels, jigs, and strathspeys. Many of these tunes are performed for Cape Breton and Scottish Country dances to this day. He published four volumes of his best tunes from 1783-1803, including Athole Brose, the Marquis of Huntley's Strathspey, Jenny Dang the Weaver, Sleepy Maggie and the Duke of Gordon's Fancy.

Like Antonio Vivaldi (“il prete rosso”), Mackintosh made his living teaching as well as composing, and Red Rob pieced his living together doing multiple things too. He played in the orchestra of the Edinburgh Music Society and also had a career as a violin teacher, cited as having taught the more famous rival Neil Gow early in Gow’s career. Mackintosh also gave his own concerts in Scotland and London, sharing the concertmaster J.P. Salomon with Joseph Hadyn in the 1780’s.

This Sonata in G minor reflects Mackintosh’s deep understanding of both classical art music and the Scottish dance music tradition. The first movement, “Allegro,” is constructed in the standard sonata form of exposition in G minor, development in Bb major, and recapitulation in G minor. The “Largo” second movement is an air, with room for both Baroque improvisation and Scottish fiddle ornamentation. The final movement is a traditional jig dance in 6/8 time.

Deep River from 24 Negro Melodies, Opus 59
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875-1912), Maud Powell (1867-1920)

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor was born in London in 1875 to Alice Hare Martin, an English woman, and Daniel Peter Hughes Taylor, a Krio man from Sierra Leone who had studied medicine in the capital and became a prominent administrator in West Africa. His father was a violin player and began teaching Samuel at a young age, where his abilities quickly became obvious and began formal studies at the Royal College of Music under Charles Stanford and mentored by Edward Elgar. With his sweeping melodies and rich harmonic language, he became known as the “African Mahler.” He was particularly known for his three cantatas on the epic poem Song of Hiawatha by American Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. So fond of the poem, Coleridge-Taylor named his son Hiawatha in tribute.

Maud Powell was born in Peru, Illinois in 1867. Her mother was Wilhelmina "Minnie" Bengelstraeter Powell, and her father was William Bramwell Powell, who wrote numerous books such as The Normal Course of Reading and served as superintendent of Peru Elementary School District. She was also the niece of John Wesley Powell, an American Civil War hero and famed explorer of the Grand Canyon. He made his first scientific exploration of the Colorado River in 1869, when Maud was two years old.

The two musicians first met in November 1898 at Powell’s London debut, when she performed his Gipsy Suite. She included the work in her American recitals in 1901, thus introducing his violin music to the American public. Later, Coleridge-Taylor would be reintroduced to her while on tour in the United States. He dedicated his Violin Concerto in G minor to her, and she transcribed several of his piano works for violin. Here, we have the African-American spiritual “Deep River,” first transcribed for piano by Coleridge-Taylor and then adapted by Powell for violin and piano. Powell performed that arrangement during her recital at Carnegie Hall in October

1911. In fact, this was the first time in history that a white, classically trained artist had played a spiritual in a concert hall, as previously only primarily black ensembles such as the Fisk Jubilee Singers and artists like Henry Thacker Burleigh and John Johnson had presented them.

Piano Trio No. 1 in B Major

Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)

German composer and virtuoso pianist Johannes Brahms often worked closely with his friends, pianist Clara Schumann and violinist Joseph Joachim, who helped provide feedback and inspiration for his three piano trios. His first piano trio debuted in 1854 when he was only twenty years old. After composing two more piano trios, he returned to revise this first work 36 years later, and this remains the only work by Brahms with two published versions.

The beautiful singing quality of the B Major first movement is unrivaled with soaring melodies that recall Schubert’s tuneful German lieder. A study in harmonic virtuosity, these parallel major and minor movements transport the listener through mesmerizing modulations and melodic transformations. Listen to the first movement’s development section, where in the course of thirty measures the melody weaves seamlessly through G Major, C Major, Db major, E-flat Major, E Major, and then finally settling back into B Major. In contrast, the second movement in B minor begins with a cunning elfentanz-style scherzo that morphs into a more lyrical and collaborative revelry. The third movement is cloaked in stillness and haunting harmonies, returning to B major, while the turbulent dotted rhythms in the final movement may reflect Brahms’ time with early mentor Hungarian violinist Ede Reményi and his gypsy style.