''Bells of Beyond'' is a

piano trio A piano trio is a group of piano and two other instruments, usually a violin and a cello, or a piece of music written for such a group. It is one of the most common forms found in classical chamber music. The term can also refer to a group of musi ...

, composed in 2013 by

Graham Waterhouse Graham Waterhouse (born 2 November 1962) is an English composer and cellist who specializes in chamber music. He has composed a cello concerto, ''Three Pieces for Solo Cello'' and ''Variations for Cello Solo'' for his own instrument, and string ...

. The work was composed in 2013. It is dedicated to the memory of the Welsh pianist and composer

Dafydd Llywelyn Dafydd Llywelyn (10 January 1939, in South Wales – 25 March 2013, in Munich) was a Welsh composer, pianist, conductor and teacher. Biography Llywelyn, born in South Wales, received his first piano lessons from his fatherForstenried-Konze ...

who was a teacher of the composer and died in the spring of 2013 in Munich. The composition was inspired by bells. It is in three sections: slow – fast – slow. It opens with chords in the piano reminiscent of bells, a motif repeated throughout the piece. The first part is dominated by a

chaconne A chaconne (; ; es, chacona, links=no; it, ciaccona, links=no, ; earlier English: ''chacony'') is a type of musical composition often used as a vehicle for variation on a repeated short harmonic progression, often involving a fairly short rep ...

on a

theme Theme or themes may refer to: * Theme (arts), the unifying subject or idea of the type of visual work * Theme (Byzantine district), an administrative district in the Byzantine Empire governed by a Strategos * Theme (computing), a custom graphical ...

of eight measures. The middle section is a virtuoso "argument" between the piano and the strings. The third section is introduced by a recalling the initial bells. It features a series of

parallel chord In music theory, a major scale and a minor scale that have the same tonic note are called parallel keys and are said to be in a parallel relationship. Forte, Allen (1979). ''Tonal Harmony'', p.9. 3rd edition. Holt, Rinehart, and Wilson. . "When ...

s, and ends with the bells. The trio was first performed at the

Gasteig Gasteig is a cultural center in Munich, opened in 1985, which hosts the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra. The Richard Strauss Conservatory, the Volkshochschule, and the municipal library are all located in the Gasteig. Most of the events of the Fi ...

in Munich on 27 October 2013, played by the violinist

Yury Revich Yury Revich (born 28 August 1991) is an Austrian classical violinist and composer. He was named the Young Artist of the Year in 2015 by the International Classical Music Awards (ICMA) and the 2016 ECHO Klassik "Newcomer of the year (violin)" award ...

, the pianist

Valentina Babor Valentina Babor (born 8 July 1989) is a German classical pianist. She began performing before audiences and winning youth competitions as a child. At 12, she was accepted by Karl-Heinz Kämmerling at the Mozarteum, where she became part of the uni ...

, and the composer. The work was played at the festival

Beethovenfest The Beethovenfest (Beethoven Festival) is a festival of classical music in Bonn, Germany, dedicated mostly to the music of Ludwig van Beethoven who was born there. It dates back to 1845, when the composer's 75th anniversary of birth was celebrate ...

in Bonn on 2 October 2016, along with Beethoven's

Piano Trio A piano trio is a group of piano and two other instruments, usually a violin and a cello, or a piece of music written for such a group. It is one of the most common forms found in classical chamber music. The term can also refer to a group of musi ...

, Op. 1/3 in

C minor C minor is a minor scale based on C, consisting of the pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. Its key signature consists of three flats. Its relative major is E major and its parallel major is C major. The C natural minor scale is: : Cha ...

and Mendelssohn's Piano Trio No. 2 in the same key, music by three composers who venerate

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

. ''Bells of Beyond'' is part of a CD '' Skylla und Charybdis'' of the composer's works for piano and strings. It was released in 2020 by Farao Classics, and introduced by a concert at the Munich Gasteig on 6 March 2021. A reviewer of ''Das Orchester'' noted that the work is derived from bell-like piano sounds, developing to soft and quiet pulses of the strings, and arriving in different music situations "verschiedene musikalische Situationen".

References

External links

Graham Waterhouse
website * * {{italic title Chamber music by Graham Waterhouse Compositions for piano trio Contemporary classical compositions 2013 compositions