String Trio (1943)

The String Trio is characteristic of Lennox Berkeley in his early 40s in that it sounds at least as French as English – he had studied composition with Nadia Boulanger in Paris, where he counted Ravel and Poulenc among his friends – and it reflects both his personal reserve and his structural modesty. It is a short and attractively lyrical work which preserves a subtle tension between the melodic line and harmonies which are not always easily congenial to it.

The first movement is based on the cantabile theme introduced in 4/4 time in the opening bars by the violin over an arpeggio accompaniment. There is more vigorous material in the transition from 4/4 to 5/8 for the second subject, which latter is comparatively complex in texture. The melodious central Adagio is the only movement with a clearly defined tonality (F major) but that doesn’t disqualify it from alluding to the repeated notes remembered from the opening theme of the work. That basic theme is more closely echoed in the middle of the last movement which otherwise – except in a slower and expressive chorale episode near the end – is driven by vigorous rhythmic figuration similar to that of the first movement.