Programme:

Ingibjörg Ýr Skarphéðinsdóttir: Dream poems (world premiere)

Hans Gál: Trio (first Icelandic performance)

Francis Poulenc: Invitation to the castle (theatre music)

interval

Dimitri Shostakovich: Preludium, Gavotte and Waltz (film music)

Paul Schoenfield: Klezmer Trio (first Icelandic performance)

Ingibjörg Ýr Skarphéðinsdóttir: Dream poems (second performance)

Performers: Tríó Sírajón

Laufey Sigurðardóttir violin

Einar Jóhannesson clarinet

Anna Áslaug Ragnarsdóttir piano

About the programme:

The combination of violin, clarinet and piano isn’t the most common chamber music ensemble. You could say that it is a variant of the classical piano trio where the clarinet substitutes for the cello or the viola.

In this programme we are proud to present the world premiere of a new work by Ingibjörg Ýr, one of several Icelandic women currently seen as rising stars among young composers. This new piece is inspired by the works of renowned Icelandic poet Þorsteinn frá Hamri.

It’s also an honour to present a warm and melodic work by Hans Gál (1890-1987), a composer of Jewish decent who had to leave Vienna along with so many other artists and intellectuals at the rise of Nazism.

Vienna is not far from the parts of Europe where Klezmer music originated, a tradition cultivated by itinerant Jewish musicians who sang in Yiddish. Persecuted in Eastern Europe in the 19th century, many of them immigrated to the US, where their music was fondly received and further developed. The American composer Paul Shoenfield (1947-2024) pays his respects to this tradition in his brilliant Klezmer Trio from 1990. Poulenc and Shostakovich then add humour, a little sarcasm and wonderful melodies to fill out the programme!