Gould Piano Trio with Robert Plane, clarinet at Loaningdale

Lucy Gould, violin

Richard Lester, cello

Benjamin Frith, piano

Robert Plane, clarinet

FAURE - Piano Trio

WATKINS - Four Fables for Clarinet and Piano Trio

MESSIAEN - Quartet for the End of Time

We are delighted to welcome the Gould Piano Trio following their triumphant opening of the Chamber Music Series at the Edinburgh International Festival, standing in for artists unable to travel due to Covid restrictions.  The Gould Piano Trio have been compared in the Washington Post to the great Beaux Arts Trio for their musical fire and dedication to the genre and have remained at the forefront of the international chamber music scene for a quarter of a century.  The partnership with Robert Plane stretches back over all this time, the closest relationship with a chamber ensemble in Robert's career.  Together they are artistic directors of the Corbridge Chamber Music Festival in Northumberland which celebrated its 21st anniversary with a much acclaimed new commission from Huw Watkins for clarinet and piano trio entitled ‘Four Fables’.

The Quartet for the End of Time is recognised as one of Messiaen's finest and most influential works.  It was written in 1941 while he was held in a German PoW camp in Poland, with only a clarinet, violin and cello available, with the piano part for himself to play.  It is a representation of the apocalyptic theme of the Book of Revelation, chapter 10: 1-7, expressing his devout Catholic way of life.  The first performance was to 5000 fellow PoWs.