If you know Madeleine Dring’s music the opening of this
Trio will come as a surprise for it is marked
Drammatico; a less drammatico composer I cannot imagine! But once the movement moves into the
allegro section it becomes typical Dring, and it’s most pleasing. Dring loved the music of Francis Poulenc and there are slight references to that composer here, but, in general, her music is rather more pungent than that of her French colleague. Dring’s music is unpretentious and this energetic little piece is full of that jubilation which typifies so much of her work. It makes a really nice start to this fascinating recital.
Paul Angerer will be better known to you as a conductor – he led some of Alfred Brendel’s Mozart recordings on Turnabout in the 1960s. He has written a significant amount of music in most genres.
Chanson Gaillarde, despite its title, is a four movement suite and has a distinct whiff of Stravinsky in its writing, which is neo-classical. It’s light and frivolous and most enjoyable; the finale is a total laugh–a–minute! This is a very nice addition to the slender repertoire for oboe, bassoon and piano.
Geoffrey Bush was one of those composers whose name one saw often but one seldom seemed to hear his music. His output isn’t huge, but it encompasses five operas, two symphonies and lots of songs. This
Trio starts with a very severe slow introduction but Bush dispels the mood as soon as the
allegro starts and one realizes that the portentousness of the introduction is the first of many jokes. As with the Dring, the spirit of Poulenc hangs over this work but it isn’t derivative. It’s just the marvellous facility the composer displays in his handling of the material which is similar to the Frenchman. A long slow section starts the second movement. A brief fast and witty section brings the work to a scintillating close. Nice stuff.
The other two works on this disk are new to me. David Sargent taught composition at Brigham Young University for over thirty years until his retirement last year.
Kaleidoscope is a one movement piece with various contrasted sections. There is little substance to the music, and it seems to have the hand of academe behind it: little inspiration but lots of knowledge as to how to put a piece of music together. It isn’t a work I would wish to hear too often for it doesn’t engage the mind sufficiently for me to care about it.
Margaret Griebling–Haigh is from a family of composers and the notes tell us that
Trocadillos is a set of three good–humoured pieces, and they are! The humour isn’t quite as spontaneous as it is in the first three works recorded here. However it’s certainly a lovely suite which knows how to entertain. Its total unpretentiousness, a rarity in so much contemporary music, is most welcome.
This is a good disk to which to put up your feet up and simply enjoy the sounds the instruments make. In general it is most entertaining and enjoyable. No masterpieces or deeply serious pieces here, but there is a lot of good feeling and fun. Well worth investigating.
Bob Briggs
The Sundance Trio (Geralyn Giovannetti (oboe); Christian Smith (bassoon);
Jed Moss (piano)) 
