Ernst Bacon (1898-1990): Trio No. 2 for Violin, Cello and Piano
Leo Sowerby (1895-1968): Trio for Violin, Cello and Piano (H 312)

Ever since their inception in 2003, the Chicago based Lincoln Trio have been strong proponents of new, uncharted or neglected chamber music works by established and not-so-well-known composers. Previous outings featured composers Pierre Jalbert, Stacy Garrop, Lera Auerbach, Laura Elise Schwendinger and Arno Babadjanian as a few examples of composers on the fringe. This time around they've opted for two staunchly American composers from their home town of Chicago.

Acknowledged with awards and yet highly overlooked (one of his symphonies was awarded a Pulitzer prize but no recordings seem to be available), Ernst Bacon (1898-1990) wrote over 250 songs, chamber works, ballets, concertos, symphonies and many books on music. While in Vienna, he studied with Karl Weigl for about two years, and was somewhat influenced by the post-war malaise prevalent in music at the time. Upon his return to Chicago he was determined to develop a style more in keeping with the optimism and confidence of his own country. And despite the fact that the opening few minutes of the first movement of his Trio No. 2 for Violin, Cello and Piano sound like they could have been written by a Soviet-era Russian composer, most of its underlying current of folksy tunes and slightly jazzy touches is definitely American. For example, its Gravely expressive third movement, with its highly lyrical phrases on the cello and violin, sounds very much like a mournful spiritual. It's followed by an Allegro loaded with demanding jazz figurations in the piano part and bluesy inflections in the string lines that well expose its origin. In this its world premiere recording, the Lincoln Trio bring out its manifold expressive touches and highly varied, self-taught stylistic techniques.

Having been a lifelong organist as well as a teacher at the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago, and director of the College of Church Musicians in Washington, it's not surprising that the music of Leo Sowerby (1895-1968) is a totally different affair. Serious, grounded, and yet more adventurous and dissonant than Bacon's output. The first movement of his Trio for Violin, Cello and Piano from 1953, marked "Slow and Solemn" is sombre and dark, and has the feel of a great, extended passacaglia. And its final "Fast; with broad sweep" movement will put any chamber ensemble through its paces. The booklet notes point out that Sowerby himself once remarked that he had been "accused by right-wingers of being too dissonant and cacophonous, and by leftists of being old-fashioned and derivative." (He would fit right in with today's political climate). Regardless, his music is both challenging and charming, and pulls you into its narrative. This is a welcome addition to the catalogue since it's the second only recording of this work, the first on New World Records already dating back 30 years.

The Lincoln Trio, Desirée Ruhstrat (violin), David Cunliffe (cello) and Marta Aznavoorian (piano), well capture and project the individual characteristics of each work, and yet never lose sight of the fact that these were both Chicago natives and contemporaries.