Piano Trio No. 2

My second Piano Trio was written for the Morgenstern Trio (from Germany) for the Arizona Friends of Chamber Music. The work is in two movements of contrasting character. A couple of ideas inspired each movement: the first was the thought of a desert landscape at night, desolate and calm; the second came from an incident driving home in Houston.

I was driving through downtown late at night on an elevated highway, which runs through the center of town. There were just enough cars on the road to feel like it was busy, but there were no traffic jams so everyone was going at a high rate of speed, some cars weaving in and out of lanes. Coming around a large curve, I looked over at the downtown skyline as I passed very near the buildings. Since this was an elevated highway, I was looking at the 4th or 5th floors of most buildings, and as I glanced at the buildings, they seemed to be going by in slow motion. This provided the impetus for the second movement. These were simply starting points and the music itself eventually developed on its own terms. Pierre Jalbert