Paul Schoenfield: Cafe Music
Juliana Athadye, violin
Ahrim Kim, cello
Chiao-Wen Cheng, piano
Composers can't always make a living wage simply writing, and so it was for Paul Schoenfield, who supplemented his compositional salary as the house pianist at Murray's Steakhouse in Minneapolis, Minnesota. But all that tickling of the ivories did more that help pay the bills; it also was the inspiration for what has become one of his best known--and loved--works: Cafe Music. This piece, which was commissioned by the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, is a rollicking piano trio, filled with jazz and honky-tonk riffs.
In April, 2017, The Society for Chamber Music in Rochester mounted a concert that was a varied as this piece, with works Kodaly, Mozart, Guggenheim Fellow Adams Roberts, and yes...Cafe Music. This is the rip-roaring rendition the audience heard that fine day in spring. Listen to the Allegro from Cafe Music.
