Bergerettes - Violin, Cello and Piano

Bergerettes

for Violin, Cello and Piano

Bohuslav Martinu (1890-1959), one of many European composers displaced by war, was born in Policka, Bohemia, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.  He lived in Prague from 1906 to 1923 (with some time spent back home), in Paris and Aix-en-Provence from 1923 to 1941, and in the United States from 1941, mostly in New York City.  He became an American citizen in 1952 but lived in mostly in Europe from 1953 on, dying in hospital at Liestal, Switzerland of inoperable stomach cancer.

In spite of his poor record at the Prague Conservatory, from which he was expelled, Martinu became a good enough violinist to play in the National Theatre Orchestra and the Czech Philharmonic.  He learned composition by listening to, observing, and memorizing a wide variety of music in Prague and in Paris.  Formal instruction in composition played a lesser role, although Albert Roussel was a valued advisor.  After moving to the United States, Martinu became active as a teacher at the Berkshire Music Center, the Mannes College of Music, Princeton University, the Curtis Institute, and the American Academy in Rome.  He began writing symphonies during his time in the USA.

Martinu called three other works piano trios, but this five-movement work for the same combination of instruments, completed in 1939, called forth a different designation from the composer.  We have no letter or program note from him explaining his choice of title.