Trio for Violin, Cello and Piano (2000)

The composer writes: I have subtitled this single-movement piano trio “The Lotos-Eaters” because it is a programmatic work, based on Alfred Lord Tennyson’s 1842 poem of the same title. Tennyson’s image of a land where all cares are forgotten seemed to me an apt subject for a lyrical and tranquil composition, and many images from the poem are “translated” quite literally into musical ideas. Tonally static, the trio is constructed in an extended arc form. Tempo, volume and intensity gradually increase, and textures become denser, until the climax of the piece – at which point these processes are reversed.