Czech composer Bohuslav Martinu excelled in chamber music and made a substantial contribution to the piano trio repertoire of the twentieth century, his keen ear...

Czech composer Bohuslav Martinu excelled in chamber music and made a substantial contribution to the piano trio repertoire of the twentieth century, his keen ear for balance and sonority finding here a perfect medium for his music. Trio No 1, Cinq pièces brèves, written in an appealing and virtuosic neo-classical style in Paris in 1930, was admired by Stravinsky. Trios Nos 2 and 3, composed in America in 1951, are more ambitious in scope and notable for their rhythmic verve and unpredictability, ingratiating themes and elegiac slow movements.