Morris Rosenzweig

Morris Rosenzweig has had a number of his works performed on the NOVA Chamber Music Series over the years. And this tradition continues Sunday when the University of Utah composer’s new String Trio receives its premiere performance. “NOVA has truly been generous to me and to other composers,” Rosenzweig said in a phone interview with Reichel Recommends.

The trio wasn’t commissioned; it came about simply because Rosenzweig wanted to write one. “It’s about ‘What if,’ and ‘How do I go about it?’ he said.”

The answers to those questions aren’t as obvious as one might think. “There aren’t many trios, and there is a good reason for that. The viola and cello are strong instruments, and having two violins balances things. But having only one violin leaves the middle field open.”

The challenge that the string trio presented was one that Rosenzweig gladly met. “The four-part vocal format [soprano-alto-tenor-bass] works really well for strings,” he said. “Once you leave out one of the violins, things get more difficult.” Among the problems he encountered and overcame dealt with voicings, doublings and passing musical ideas around the instruments. “I had to find the right approach and that was a bit hard.”

All of these aspects are more easily dealt with in a string quartet idiom, but Rosenzweig did succeed and achieve what he set out to do. “The piece is about contrasts and obtaining balances,” he said. “It’s built on a series of events that are intertwined. These events are linked to each other and eventually something that is characteristic in one episode returns, but in a different context.”

The trio is serenade-like in character, Rosenzweig added, which fits in nicely with the two other works on the program, Mozart’s Divertimento in E flat major, K. 563, for string trio, and Brahms’ Serenade in D major, op. 11 (in its original version for nine instruments).

“My trio is lyrical, but not always,” Rosenzweig noted. And it keeps its players – violinist Kathryn Eberle, violist Brant Bayless and cellist Anne Francis Bayless – busy. “it’s not a long piece, only about 10 minutes, but there’s a lot going on. In fact, Brant calls it a concerto for page turns.”

• CONCERT DETAILS:
• What: NOVA Chamber Music Series
• Time and Date: 3 p.m. March 1
• Tickets: $20 general, $18 seniors, $5 students
• Phone: 801-463-5223
• Web: www.novaslc.org