Who are you? Who am I?
Squawking, polarized voices on the political stage raise troubling questions about what we value as a society, but such conversations are timeless. Ethnicity, identity, and nationality inform artists as much as anyone, and one result is a new recording of brilliant, passionate music brought to life by the Boston-based Neave ("Neave" like "Steve") Trio: violinist Anna Williams, cellist Mikhail Veselov, and pianist Eri Nakamura.
On this new disc, we hear Samuel Coleridge-Taylor working out his heritage as a British composer and conductor of mixed-race descent. Dazzled fans called him the “African Mahler” during his U.S. tours in the early 1900s. How did he feel about the “acclaim?” Perhaps there’s a clue buried in his Twenty-four Negro Melodies for piano, five of which he arranged for piano trio. The Neave Trio shines in these.
What does it mean to grieve? To reflect on the past? When crisis struck Bedrich Smetana in the death of his four-year old daughter, he responded with his Piano Trio, Op. 15 in G minor.
Frank Martin's Trio sur des mélodies populaires irlandaises (Trio on Popular Irish Melodies) reveals a mind engaged with his personal history as a Swiss Calvinist living in the Netherlands. Likewise, Josef Suk’s joy in being Czech echoes throughout his Petit Trio in c Op. 2.
The Neave Trio plays these brilliantly, shifting moods with sensitivity while underscoring the unique color and variety in each composer’s ideas.
If you’re planning a road trip, take this disc with you.
* * * * *
One more recommendation. Well, two.
First, I just finished a book on the history of Hawai’i. If you’re looking for light beach reading, James L. Haley's Captive Paradise is probably NOT for you. But I was curious as a mother, since my son recently moved there. He's Captain Jack Tremblay of the U.S. Space Force, stationed at the Haleakalā High Altitude Observatory site on the Hawaiian island of Maui.
You might find yourself engrossed by the fascinating tale of a royal kingdom subsumed by manifest destiny. Time and time again in the story, the native Hawaiians get caught off guard by racism and greed. Many of them, especially in the ruling class, were highly sophisticated, well-educated people who responded to identity politics the best way they knew how - by making music.
Which brings me to one more recommendation for you.
WXXI Classical's Music Director Mona Seghatoleslami unearthed buried treasure in the WXXI Music Library, a disc of vocal music from Hawaii featuring the Rose Ensemble.
Who are you? Who am I? Who are we?
The answer, it turns out, encompasses constellations.
