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Programme Note

Horn Trio

This Trio, commissioned by Colin Horsley, was written in the autumn of 1952 and first performed in March of the following year at a concert in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. It is in three movements:

Allegro. The principal theme, based on rising fourths, is announced without any preamble by the horn and immediately echoed by the violin. The second subject is in a contrasting and gentler mood. The development section is based mainly on the counter-subject (heard originally on the piano at the beginning of the work) and the second subject, combined with a certain amount of new material. In the recapitulation, the parts taken in the opening by horn and piano are reversed, but after this very little actual repetition takes place.

Lento This begins with an eight bar tune played by the violin, and repeated, in a modified form, immediately by the horn. A passage for piano alone leads to the central section which mainly consists of new material. The opening is repeated with the melody shared between the violin and the horn, and after some allusions to the middle section a short coda ends the movement.

Theme and Variations The first part of the theme is stated by the piano, the other instruments entering for the second part. The variations are:

1. Allegro moderato 2. Allegretto 3. Lento 4. Vivace 5. Allegretto 6. Moderato
7. Adagio 8. Moderato 9. A lively Gigue leading straight into 10. Moderato