Phantasy Trio

Rhian Samuel’s Phantasy Trio is a lively and challenging addition to the repertoire of an instrumental genre infrequently visited by contemporary composers. Its five movements are played without a break, their musical discourse focused by the sustained dynamic interaction of piano, violin and cello. After a preludial opening of filigree arabesques shared between the players, material in the spirit of an Irish jig forms the topic of the second and fourth movements, which enclose a scherzo of violent contrasts. In the finale, thematic elements of much that has gone before are gathered up and assessed, to conclude the score in a mood of quiet fantasy and a hushed final cadence.