Schoenberg’s String Trio...is actually quite a late work, 1946, and in it, Schoenberg has refined down to its absolute essence his “Method of Composition with Twelve Tones.” Few works I know by Schoenberg come quite as close as this one does to emulating the composer he once taught, Anton Webern. If you can appreciate a hyper-tense Romanticism compressed into sub-atomic particles, you are bound to be captivated by this piece. I have a special fondness for Webern, and Schoenberg’s Trio, though more extended than most of what Webern wrote, is in a similar vein. It’s a neat piece, and the Leopolders play it to the hilt.

Bohuslav Martinů (1890–1959) is another composer for whom I developed an early fondness, when I acquired an Artia LP of his Double Concerto for Two String Orchestras, Piano, and Timpani. The driving, quirky motor rhythms and corrosive harmonies really appealed to me. Some of that is on tap in the neo-Classical first movement of his String Trio No. 2 on this disc, but overall this is a shorter work in only two movements, and not nearly as acerbic.

Martinů is an interesting mix of influences. Of Czech birth on the border between Bohemia and Moravia, he studied at the Prague Conservatory under Josef Suk. But in 1923, Martinů set out for Paris, where he managed to scrape together enough money to study privately with Albert Roussel. Cross cultural currents were common among composers in the early decades of the 20th century, with France being the common denominator, but a Czech-French connection was not one of the more frequent ones. The crossbreeding produced an unexpected offspring in Martinů, a kind of neo-Baroque, French post-Impressionist, cum jazzed-up Czech nationalist. His music can be alternately peppy, spicy, coolly lyrical, deeply affecting, and even tragic. Sounds a bit like I’m describing Poulenc—not an entirely inapt comparison, actually.

This is a beautifully played and recorded program. I’m familiar with the Leopold String Trio from their recordings of the Beethoven string trios, which are my preferred versions. Their performances here are superb. Though all of these pieces are available on other recordings, (some of which I mentioned above) this new CD is a most desirable release. That’s a “buy” recommendation.

Jerry Dubins, FANFARE