PROGRAMME NOTES

American Trio

The American Trio (original title Hymns, Rags and Blues) was commissioned by the Verdehr Trio of Michigan State University and first performed there 15 July 1985. It is one of a number of pieces in which Peter Dickinson has explored American popular idioms.  These include the Blue Rose Variations for organ (Proms 2009), the Piano Concerto, and London Rags for brass quintet.  The American Trio began with three hymn-tunes - two were remembered from his childhood and the principal one was invented.  These were converted unrecognisably into blues - one for each of the instruments involved - and the hymn-tunes also form the basis of a classical rag.

The layout is:
1. A slow prelude announcing the main hymn
2. Rag No. 1: violin and piano against the piano's own blues
3. Cadenza No. 1: against the first half of the hymn on the piano
4. Blues No. 1: clarinet and piano against high violin
5. Rag No. 2: clarinet and violin against the piano's variation on the hymn
6. Cadenza No. 2: against the second half of the hymn in the piano
7. Blues No. 2: violin and piano with clarinet increasingly disruptive into its own cadenza
8. Rag No. 3: piano, with interpolations from both clarinet and piano winding down to eventual agreement.