Trio for Two Cellos and Piano
As simple as possible but no simpler
II. Lullaby [5:15]
Adagio sempre legato e dolce
The
idea for a piece for two cellos and piano came up during a meal celebrating my
70th birthday in January 2025 with cellist Bonnie Thron, her husband
clarinetist Fred Jacobowitz, and violinist Eric Pritchard. But I had a terrible
outer ear infection, and by late February I lost my right eardrum. It was
repaired surgically on July 1;I wasn’t in shape to compose until September.
After a short piano work, “Happy Birthday to Me”, I finally got started on this
new project.
The
first three movements went smoothly. My attempts in December for a fourth
stalled, restarted, stalled again, and eventually I gave up. I’ll call it
complete for now, although someday I might add a fourth movement, as it seems
to need one.
Cover
photo: the composer before the premiere of movements 2 and 3 of Symphony No. 3:
Protest Poems by the Durham Symphony Orchestra, October 19, 2025