Trio Accanto was formed as the result of a discussion between Marcus Weiss and Yukiko Sugawara in 1992. "It happened on the way home from the Witten Days for New Chamber Music in 1992. I talked a lot with Yukiko during the trip, and we came up with the idea for this combination of instruments. [...] I was especially interested in having a fixed ensemble in order to play pieces a number of times, because at that time I was playing in larger ensembles where only a few pieces with saxophone occurred in the concerts and these programs were often just played once."[1] The trio performed for the first time in 1994. Christian Dierstein was invited to be the percussionist after the first few concerts which had featured Edith Salmen-Weber in that role.[2] The first concert with Christian Dierstein was at Donaueschingen in 1994.
Trio Accanto plays exclusively works for the three instruments together. The group's members do not play solos or duos in trio concerts, nor does the trio play with additional guests artists.
In the past there have been projects with voice, including works by Bernhard Lang and Dieter Schnebel. These are however no longer in the active repertoire of the Trio. Similarly, in the past members have played solo works during the concerts. For example, on 6 August 2008, at the NDR Rolf-Liebermann-Studio in Hamburg (during the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival), Marcus Weiss gave the world premiere of Stockhausen's EDENTIA for soprano saxophone and electronics (from KLANG). (In the same concert the trio gave the premiere of Lachenmann's Berliner Kirschblüten.)[7]
Trio Accanto has been very active in education, promoting tours of several different children's programmes, including specially written works by Helmut Lachenmann, Martin Smolka, Thomas Kessler and others. These works are still in the trio's repertoire, in as much as they fit into the current programming concept.
Trio Accanto have in recent years begun recording the highlights of its repertoire for Wergo, in purpose-made studio recordings. The first of these, Funambules,[10] was released in December 2016 and featured music by Georges Aperghis, Rolf Riehm, Johannes Schöllhorn and Stefan Prins, all pieces commissioned by the trio in the first year of Hodges' membership. The second, Songs and Poems, was released in April 2018 and features music by Aldo Clementi, Andreas Dohmen, Wolfgang Rihm, Hans Thomalla and Walter Zimmermann, all of which (apart from Dohmen) are major works from the Trio's "old repertoire" which were not recorded by the Trio in earlier decades. The third CD, Other Stories was released in April 2020, and includes four previously unrecorded works by Helmut Lachenmann – two versions of Sakura Variations for trio, plus the solo piano versions of Marche Fatale and Berliner Kirschblüten – along with trio works by Michael Finnissy (Opera of the Nobility), Yu Kuwabara, Martin Schüttler and Martin Smolka.
A fourth CD has been recorded, solely consisting of works by Christian Wolff, including Trio IX – Accanto and recent Exercises. With Hodges, the Trio has also released recordings of works by Marina Khorkova[11] and Evan Johnson.[12]
Jim Igor Kallenberg: "Intergalactic mutant music: The music of Christian Wolff and the politics of 1968. Christian Wolff in conversation with Jim Igor Kallenberg", Wien Modern 31: Sicherheit. 28.10.-30.11.2018. Essays (Festivalkatalog Band 2), pp.90–95, esp. p.91 on Trio Accanto and Wolff's Trio IX – Accanto.
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References
↑ Marcus Weiss, quoted in CD booklet to Funambules (Wergo WER 73582), p. 24
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