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Artist: The Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio w/Sting

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The Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio w/Sting:

IN CELEBRATION - Piano Trios of Stanley Silverman

notes by Stanley Silverman…..In Celebration was co-commissioned by the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts at the University of Illinois in honor of its 20th anniversary and by the Tisch Center for the Performing Arts at the 92nd Street Y in New York. The composition is dedicated to the Kalichstein- Laredo-Robinson Trio in response to their request to write something “jazzy.” Premiere on March 31, 1989 at the Krannert Center and its New York premiere at the 92nd Street Y on April 11, 1989.

The piece celebrates a generation that at the time of the writing had recently turned 70 years of age. I cite my teacher Leon Kirchner as well as American artists such as Leonard Bernstein, Jerome Robbins, Arthur Miller, and the English writer Anthony Burgess. Add to this list the wonderful baseball players of my youth, Joe DiMaggio and Ted Williams. The energy of the piece is characterized by the use of dance rhythms that spanned the 70 years prior to its writing. From the Charleston to Salsa, the music specifically recalls the spirit of the post Second World War era when one could imagine these various personalities in their blossoming.

Introduction: A twelve-note theme divided into four motifs is introduced by the violin in its higher register and imitated in halved rhythms by the pizzicato cello. A jazzy piano figure which appears at the end of the Introduction presents the principal rhythmic motif of the Kinematic movement.

Kinematic: The movement travels through a series of dance episodes, linked by passages of rhythmic unisons. A Boogie-woogie punctuated with bebop accents dominates the movement. The material in the left hand of the piano is based on the twelve- note theme of the Introduction. It and the right hand becomes the basis for the entire piece.

Cantilena-Chaconne: The movement is divided into two parts. The Cantilena is a free, singing melody and features the solo violin. The music develops from the Boogie-woogie piano right hand into plaintive bluesy passages.

Montuno: The closing movement celebrates the Hispanic influence found on New York streets and in clubs. Having just returned from a trip to Spain I was interested in writing something “Spanish.”