Ruske-Frautschi-Chien Horn Trio

Saturday, December 5, 2015 | 8:00 pm

Baldwin Auditorium

Eric Ruske (horn), Jennifer Frautschi (violin), and Gloria Chien (piano) come to Baldwin Auditorium with a program of rare and moving repertoire for horn trio. The New York Times raved that Ruske’s playing “enchants by virtue of its confidence, imagination, and ebullient virtuosity.” Frautschi’s playing has been praised by Le Soleil for its “strength and palpable intensity.” The Boston Globe applauded Chien’s “wondrously rich palette of colors, which she mixes with dashing bravado.”

Brahms’ Horn Trio is a unique and exquisite component of his chamber music catalogue. Originally scored for the more melancholic Waldhorn (“natural” horn, without valves), it has become a benchmark for all composers trying their hand at this uncommon instrumentation. Among those composers is György Ligeti, whose Horn Trio was a watershed piece, signaling a shift toward a highly rhythmic and polymodal style he claimed was “neither modern nor postmodern.” These two works anchor the program, complemented with chamber duets by Schumann and Brahms.

Program