Chamber Works by Madeleine Dring (1923-77),William Grant Still (1895-1978) and Jean-Michele Damase (b.1928)

 The combination of flute, oboe and piano is a rare one in chamber music and the Spectral Trio, from America, have ingeniously concocted an electric programme of trios and fleshed them out with duos by the same composers for oboe and piano, and flute and piano. They are elegantly performed, with real relish and commitment, by flautist Richard Sherman, oboist Jan Eberle and the late Kimberly Schmidt on piano. I was particularly struck me by the freshness, vitality and the richness of melodic writing in Madeleine Dring’s Trio: this is very mercurial, quirky and quixotic music, as are so many of her songs. The outer movements are both Allegro, respectively con brio and giocoso – the last could easily pass for Poulenc – and they are separated by a slow movement, Andante semplice, with a haunting and nostalgic melody which stayed with me for days. Less memorable are the Miniatures by the prolific American composer William Grant Still, whose diverse ethnic background is evoked in five settings of folk melodies from Mexico, Peru and America. Also included are Dring’s Danza Gaya and Grant Still’s Incantation and Dance, both for oboe and piano. The French composer Jean-Michele Damase is represented by a Trio (1962) that directly juxtaposes highly atonal angularity with a rich and lush harmonic language, as well as the Quatre Divertissements (1986), which are more approachable, light and frothy without ever placing too many demands on the listener: there are some wonderful pieces for the examination syllabuses here (Blue Griffin BGR125, 57 minutes)

Spectral Trio

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