Johann Nepomuk HUMMEL (1778-1837)
Piano Trios - Volume 2
Piano Trio No. 1 in E flat major, Op. 12 [19:12]
Piano Trio No. 4 in G Major, Op. 65 [16:18]
Piano Trio No. 5 in E major, Op. 83, "Grand Trio Concertante" [25:59]
Gould Piano Trio
rec. 20-21 June 2013, Champs Hill, West Sussex, UK.
NAXOS 8.573261 [61:30]
Hummel had a fascinating life. Teachers and mentors included Mozart, Haydn and Salieri, and he was friends with Beethoven, Schubert – whose last three piano sonatas were dedicated to Hummel – and Goethe. He died almost as famous as they did, with a high reputation as a composer and virtuoso keyboard performer. Yet that reputation faded fast, and was not resurrected until a few decades ago, and even now recordings one suspects are the main vehicle, rather than live performances.
The reason for the long neglect is not hard to find. He was loyal to a late classical style when Beethoven and Schubert were forging a more searching proto-romantic world. He lived into the 1830’s but his music inhabits the world of the early 1800’s. None of that matters now, of course, only the musical quality, which is abundant.
The first of his Piano Trios was published as his Op. 12 in Vienna in 1803, and sounds like it. It begins with the most conventional gestures in piano then violin, and it takes a few pages before it is clear that this is a bit more than a well-turned ’prentice work. But then a characteristic elegance and musical good manners prevail. The piano dominates at times, but the strings are much more than supporting artists, each with its moments in the limelight. Indeed the endearing second movement opens with a theme for the strings, while the Presto finale leads with terse exchanges between all the players, and has some very precise and effervescent fast fiddling from Lucy Gould.
The next work on the disc, Piano Trio No.4 in G, comes more than a decade and forty opus numbers later but finds Hummel still loyal to the aesthetic in which he was raised, and mastered early on. It’s 1815 but there is little sign of any Beethoven influence. Nonetheless this is the most ingratiating work on the disc, its tightly woven three movements requiring little over 16 minutes. There is the same expert deployment of a true piano trio texture, the piano a primus inter pares but with key sections for the strings and blended passages too. The Andante lets us hear how good a cellist Alice Neary is, especially when her instrument provides decoration for the return of the theme. The Rondo is the shortest movement on the disc but one of the best, with delightful playing all round.
The big (26 minute) Trio No.5 is from 1819, and written to celebrate Johann Baptist Cramer, one of the great pianists of the day, hence the virtuoso piano part of this “Grand Trio Concertante”. ‘Grand’ does not mean better invention of course, nor does the expanded scale result in greater scope and power. But there is still plenty to enjoy, not least from Benjamin Frith’s brilliant articulation in the many display passages, even if the two earlier works exude the greater charm. Charm is a touchstone of this music and these immaculate performances. The Gould Trio never for a moment sound as if they had to learn any piece here just for the recording session - even if they did! They are committed to the music and are superb advocates for it.
Ultimately there is a temptation to describe Hummel’s qualities in negative terms. He does not try greatly to expand the expressive range of the genre, doesn’t forget there is a domestic market of skilled amateurs to be served, doesn’t outstay his welcome (well, until No.5’s first movement maybe). I imagine these pieces work best opening a live concert by a group as fine as the Gould Piano Trio. There are other versions but most critics have found these players as good as any, and we can hear why. There is a useful booklet note on Hummel and this programme, and the sound from Champs Hill, an ideal chamber music recording venue, is very good indeed. And now I must go and seek out Volume One.
Roy Westbrook
