By Peter Fletcher

For me, the Festival started on a wet Saturday afternoon in the cosiness of Holy Trinity Church, with the warm embrace of Trio Dali. I say Trio Dali although only Jack Liebeck, violin, is a regular. The usual cellist and pianist were on paternity and maternity leave respectively but were most ably replaced by Gemma Rosefield, cello, and Daniel Grimwood, piano. These three have played each with the other but not as a trio until a few weeks ago. Nonetheless, the ensemble was very empathic.

The music was from three composers, from the 19th-20th centuries who were neglected for most of their lifetimes; Rebecca Clarke didn’t get anything like her deserved recognition until the 1970s.

We first heard Clara (Wieck) Schumann’s Trio Op. 17. It was played tenderly, with a relaxed passion and with an obvious connection amongst the players. At first, the tricky acoustic rather favoured the high frequency instruments, but the ‘cello soon asserted itself. The seamless way that the instruments flowed from lead to accompanying roles was impressive. The piano featured arpeggio sections and octaves that were very Romantic and could easily have dominated but the beautiful vintage strings comfortably supported the weight of the mighty Steinway D.

Lilli Boulanger didn’t live to complete these works but she had done enough for them to be finished by her sister, Nadia. D’Un Soir Triste featured darkly dissonant chords supporting a yearning ‘cello melody using the full range of the instrument. D’Un Matin De Printemps was still minor but more vibrant and optimistic. The ending was quite defiant.

In Rebecca Clarke’s Trio, one was immediately struck by the modernist harmonies and textures very reminiscent of Debussy. The 2nd movement continues the ambiguity of major/minor and whole-tone phrases abound. A feature is made of quintile pedals using harmonics of the open strings. The last movement is more chromatic than modal and introduces a rather curious ‘bugle call’ over a wash of whole tone scales.

Altogether an intriguing afternoon in the company of three fine instrumentalists. No wonder the gentlemen of the musical establishment felt challenged and threatened by these supremely gifted composers.