Presents
Dmytro Klebanov
Piano Trio No.2
First Time Available in the West
We are pleased to present the second piano trio by the Ukrainian master composer Dmytro Klebanov (1907-1987 Dmitri is the Russian form of the Ukrainian name Dmytro). He was born in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv (then known as Kharkov and part of the Russian empire). He studied piano, viola and composition at the Kharkiv Music and Drama Institute. After briefly playing viola in the Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra, he returned to Kharkiv where he pursued a career as a composer, conductor and teacher, eventually becoming a professor at the Kharkiv Conservatory in 1960. His first symphony, composed in 1945 and titled "In Memoriam to the Martyrs of Babi Yar" was attacked by Stalinist music critics who found it anti-patriotic. He was accused of distortion of the historic truth about the Soviet people and of national narrow-mindedness. Shortly thereafter, Stalin made his famous attack on Soviet artists with the result that Soviet Composers were forced to compose politically correct works of "socialist realism."
Klebanov's Piano Trio No.2 was completed in 1958 and though Stalin had been dead for some 5 years, the constraints imposed on composers during this time had not yet been lifted and therefore Klebanov no doubt felt that he had to tread carefully. The four movement work opens with an Allegro moderato in which the main theme is filled with music of melancholy yearning. Shifting chromaticism also plays an important part. The second movement, Scherzo, is characterized by its nervous, restless energy and zips forward with vague echoes of folk melody here and there. A middle section has a rather slinky salon quality of the sort that was popular in post WW1 Germany. One is struck with certain similarities to the music of Shostakovich who was almost an exact contemporary of Klebanov, but who as a ethnic Russian, certainly had a much easier time of it than Klebanov. The Adagio which follows is rather down at the mouth with an aura of depression and sadness, which borders on the funereal. The finale, Allegro, is at the same time frenetic and restless occasionally with a feeling of desperation.
This piano trio is of the first order. It is a work which certainly belongs in the concert hall but which also can be warmly recommended to experienced amateur players. We wish to thank Stefan Hlouschko who made a copy of the parts available to us.
Parts: $29.95
