Beautiful music from talented trio at Warwick concert

A VISIT by the Lawson Trio is an occasion for rejoicing. What could be more encouraging than three talented musicians spending time with the very young from the Leamington area?

The flutterings of anticipation on Sunday morning were richly realised with a ‘Dance Around the World’ programme, cleverly introducing and demonstrating musical expressions - pizzicato, glissando, waltz rhythm, and variations – through works by Dvorak, Chopin, Bartok and Stravinsky. Several years’ commitment to engaging with young musicians is very evident.

Emerging from Chethams School, Purcell School and the Junior Department of the Royal Academy, and progressing via Cambridge and Guildhall, these skilled chamber music practitioners began their afternoon concert with Mozart’s last work for piano trio, Trio in G, and Debussy’s Trio No 1 in G, a very mature piece by the 18-year-old. The afternoon’s big challenge was The Long Way Home, a contemporary piece by David Knotts. Like Debussy, Knotts is keen on water and the first movement reflects a wet Sussex summer, with the piano theme maintaining a falling rain effect throughout. Sylvia Townsend Warner’s poem, Go the long way, the long way home is the inspiration for the second movement bringing a beautiful wistful piece to a close.

Brahms’ Trio in B Op. 8 first published in 1854 underwent a major revision some 30 years later. This revised version has something of an ‘autumnal’ feel about it with flashes of melodic grace. Lawson Trio’s performance showed why their future concert schedule continues to grow.

Clive Peacock