The Verdehr Trio was a chamber ensemble that worked to promote the clarinet-violin-piano trio repertoire through international commissions, recordings, and

performance A performance is an act of staging or presenting a play, concert, or other form of entertainment. It is also defined as the action or process of carrying out or accomplishing an action, task, or function. Management science In the work place ...

s. The trio featured Walter Verdehr on violin,

Elsa Ludewig-Verdehr Elsa Ludewig-Verdehr (born April 14, 1936) is an American clarinetist and music educator whose contributions to the Verdehr Trio have resulted in an extensive modern body of work for the clarinet-violin-piano trio medium. Biography Born in Charlo ...

on clarinet, and Silvia Roederer on piano. The Ludewig-Verdehrs were married in 1971 and founded the trio in 1972 at

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the fi ...

where it has remained

in residence Artist-in-residence, or artist residencies, encompass a wide spectrum of artistic programs which involve a collaboration between artists and hosting organisations, institutions, or communities. They are programs which provide artists with space a ...

. Former pianists include Gary Kirkpatrick. The Verdehr Trio announced its retirement at the end of the 2014–15 season after 43 years.

Commissions

Inspired by existing pieces for

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

clarinet The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The instrument has a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell, and uses a single reed to produce sound. Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches ...

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

trio by 20th-century composers Bartók ('' Contrasts (Bartók)''),

Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (6 April 1971) was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor, later of French (from 1934) and American (from 1945) citizenship. He is widely considered one of the most important and influential 20th-century clas ...

, Milhaud, Khachaturian, Berg, Krenek,

Poulenc Francis Jean Marcel Poulenc (; 7 January 189930 January 1963) was a French composer and pianist. His compositions include songs, solo piano works, chamber music, choral pieces, operas, ballets, and orchestral concert music. Among the best-kno ...

and

Ives Ives is both a surname and a given name. Notable people with the name include: Surname: * Alice Emma Ives (1876–1930), American dramatist, journalist * Burl Ives (1909–1995), American singer, author and actor * Charles Ives (1874–1954), Ame ...

, the trio commissioned over 200 new works. To round out their repertoire they discovered or transcribed 18th and 19th century pieces for violin-clarinet-piano. The trio has also commissioned trio concertos from composers including Buhr, David,

Ott Ott, OTT or O.T.T. may refer to: Entertainment * OTT (group), a pop band from the late 1990s * Ott (record producer), British record producer and musician * "O.T.T" (song), a song by Fugative * ''O.T.T.'' (television series), a UK TV programme f ...

, Skrowaczewski, and Wallace. They have commissioned violin-clarinet double concertos from

James Niblock James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambigua ...

, William Wallace,

Dinos Constantinides Dinos Constantinides ( el, Ντίνος Κωνσταντινίδης; 10 May 1929 – 20 July 2021) was a Greek-American composer of contemporary classical music. Constantinides was born in Ioannina, Greece. He studied violin and music theory ...

, Paul Chihara, Ian Krouse and Richard Mills.The Verdehr Trio
/ref> To make this music available the trio released ''The Making of a Medium CD Series'' on Crystal Records and a parallel ''Video Series'' including performances, interviews and discussions by the composers as well as a complete performance of the work. Series I includes composers

Leslie Bassett Leslie Raymond Bassett (22 January 1923 – 4 February 2016) was an American composer of classical music. Bassett received the 1966 Pulitzer Prize in Music. Bassett had a lifelong relationship with the University of Michigan School of Music. ...

Alan Hovhaness Alan Hovhaness (; March 8, 1911 – June 21, 2000) was an American-Armenian composer. He was one of the most prolific 20th-century composers, with his official catalog comprising 67 numbered symphonies (surviving manuscripts indicate over 70) and ...

Karel Husa Karel Husa (August 7, 1921 – December 14, 2016) was a Czech-born classical composer and conductor, winner of the 1969 Pulitzer Prize for Music and 1993 University of Louisville Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition. In 1954, he emigrated to t ...

, Thea Musgrave (''Pierrot''), Ned Rorem, and Gunther Schuller. Series II, hosted by Peter Schickele, includes trios by Alexander Arutiunian, David Diamond, William Bolcom,

Betsy Jolas Elizabeth Jolas (born 5 August 1926) is a Franco-American composer. Biography Jolas was born in Paris in 1926. Her mother, the American translator Maria McDonald, was a singer. Her father, the poet and journalist Eugene Jolas, founded and edited ...

, Libby Larsen,

Philippe Manoury Philippe Manoury (born 19 June 1952) is a French composer. Biography Manoury was born in Tulle and began composition studies at the Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris with Gérard Condé and Max Deutsch. He continued his studies from 1974 to 197 ...

Gian Carlo Menotti Gian Carlo Menotti (, ; July 7, 1911 – February 1, 2007) was an Italian composer, librettist, director, and playwright who is primarily known for his output of 25 operas. Although he often referred to himself as an American composer, he kept h ...

Peter Sculthorpe Peter Joshua Sculthorpe (29 April 1929 – 8 August 2014) was an Australian composer. Much of his music resulted from an interest in the music of countries neighboring Australia as well as from the impulse to bring together aspects of Aborigin ...

, Peter Schickele and

Joan Tower Joan Tower (born September 6, 1938)http://www.schirmer.com/default.aspx?TabId=2419&State_2872=2&ComposerId_2872=1605 Biography on Schirmer is a Grammy-winning contemporary American composer, concert pianist and conductor. Lauded by ''The New York ...

. A publishing project has also been launched.

Accomplishments

The trio received a Creative Programming Award from

Chamber Music America Chamber Music America (CMA) is an American non-profit organization that provides small ensemble professionals with access to a variety of professional development, networking, and funding resources. CMA's regular initiatives include grants, awards, ...

and an Adventuresome Programming Award from

ASCAP The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadca ...

and Chamber Music America. An article about the Trio appears in the '' New Grove Dictionary of Music''. Elsa Ludewig-Verdehr is praised for her range of timbre and pitch, especially the clarinet's "chalumeau" or lowest register.

Other composers commissioned

Nathan Currier Nathan Currier (born 1960, Huntingdon, Pennsylvania) is an American composer. Biography Coming from a musical family, Currier is son of composer Marilyn Currier (1931) and brother of composer Sebastian Currier (1959). His principal teachers wer ...

Douglas Knehans Douglas Knehans (born 1957, St. Louis, Missouri) is an American/Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Aust ...

* Iván Erőd * David Lipten *

Octavio Vázquez file:"Memento" Portrait of composer Octavio Vazquez.jpg, Octavio Vázquezportrait by Luis Alvarez Roure Octavio Vázquez Rodríguez (born September 10, 1972) is a Galician people, Galician-Americans, American New York-based composer of classical ...

Other composers premiered

* William Averitt – ''Tripartita'' (1988) "Tripartita, the Verdehr Trio score"
''MSU Press''. Bernard Holland, Wednesday, November 14, 1990
"Review/Music; A Trio With a Difference"
''The New York Times''. * Paul Chihara – ''Shogun'' (1987, trio) *

Ge Gan-Ru Ge Gan-ru (; born July 8, 1954) is a Chinese composer of contemporary classical music and a professor at Columbia University. Biography Ge Gan-ru was born in Shanghai, China. His early years were spent in the Chongming Island during the Cultur ...

– ''Si'' *

Tomás Marco Tomás Marco Aragón (born 12 September 1942) is a Spanish composer and writer on music. Life and work Marco was born in Madrid where he later studied violin and composition, while at the same time pursuing the study of law (he received his li ...

– ''Aequatorialis'' * Gunther Schuller – ''A trio setting'' *

– ''rive'' *

– ''glow – concerto for violin, clarinet and orchestra'' *

– ''trio for violin, clarinet and piano'' * David Lipten – ''Whorl for violin, clarinet, and piano''

Notes

External links

*http://www.verdehr.com/
NYTimes.com: Verdehr Trio Contrast Review
By John Rockwell, Published: February 18, 1988

Viewing

* * {{authority control American musical trios Chamber music groups Michigan State University Musical groups established in 1972 1972 establishments in Michigan Musical groups disestablished in 2015 2015 disestablishments in Michigan