Janaki

Beethoven’s Trios — he wrote four in all — are early works, but already in the C Minor work on this album, the tread of the dramatic master is apparent. Just the opening, a dark, menacing melody that shows up again in the great Opus 131 Quartet of many years later, tells us that. C Minor was, of course, Beethoven’s most dramatic tonality throughout his lifetime; even though this early trio tends to slither into happier C-major tones readily, the dark shadows are never completely out of earshot.

The short, two-movement String Trio of Krzysztof Penderecki dates from 1990 — later, therefore than the time of his violent, dramatic heaven-stormers like his opera The Devils and the big choral works. Here is Penderecki in a conversational, almost neo-romantic mood. His instruments chat each other up during the agreeable slow movement and then do so again at a busier pace in the second movement. This charmer of a movement begins as a fugue and gallops congenially toward its end.

After earning his Bachelor’s degree in Latin American Studies at Occidental College, Los Angeles-based composer Jason Barabba studied music at the University of Chicago, the University of California, Irvine, and the University of California, Los Angeles. His teachers include John Eaton, Andrew Imbrie, Christopher Dobrian, and David Lefkowitz. His DNR for Large Orchestra was recently recorded by the Kiev Philharmonic for ERM Media’s “Masterworks of the New Era” recording project and will be released on Volume 10 of that series. His recent commissions include this Trio for Janaki and Study in Orange for the Orange County High School for the Arts. His Trio is in four movements. Bela Bartok looks in now and then, especially in the haunting third-movement nocturne.